Sartori stayed on at the University of Florence, teaching History of Modern Philosophy and Doctrine of the State starting in 1946. He became a lecturer in Modern Philosophy (1950–1956) and in Political Science (1956–1963), and subsequently professor of Sociology (1963–66). Sartori became full professor of Political Science and taught at Florence University from 1966 to 1976. During this time, Sartori founded the first modern Political Science academic post in Italy, and was Dean of the newly formed University of Florence's Department of Political Science. He also taught at the European University Institute (1974–1976) and then became professor of Political Science at
Stanford University (1976–79). Finally, Sartori served as Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities at
Columbia University from 1979 to 1994 and was appointed
professor emeritus. Sartori was president of the Committee for Conceptual and Terminological Analysis (COCTA) of IPSA, the
International Sociological Association (ISA), and the
International Social Science Council (ISSC) from 1970 to 1979. He was founder and editor of the
Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica (
Italian Political Science Review) from 1971 to 2003. Sartori was also a regular contributor, as an op-ed writer, of the leading Italian newspaper
Corriere della Sera. He died at the age of 92 in Rome from
throat cancer on 4 April 2017.
On concepts Sartori was deeply interested in the formation, analysis, and use of political concepts. He observed that political science, for better or worse, lacked the coordination in terminology that he presumed to exist in the physical and biological sciences. He encouraged a more "intentional" use of concepts, with the objective of furthering a shared understanding of ideas. In 1970, he and others established the first permanent research committee of the newly created
International Political Science Association (IPSA). The committee, Research Committee on Concepts and Methods (RC 01), was intended to ameliorate the "Tower of Babel problem" in political science, and is still active. Sartori's 1970 article "Concept Misformation in Comparative Politics" published in
The American Political Science Review is prominent in the field, leading Gary Goertz to write, "There are few articles in political science that deserve the predicate 'classic,' but Sartori's ... merits the label." In his article, Sartori presented the notion of a
Ladder of abstraction, which captured how any concept can shift from abstract to concrete by adding properties to it and vice versa. Sartori used the ladder to explore the problem of abstract concepts traveling between fields of information and might be stretched beyond meaning. Sartori's notions of "conceptual traveling" (the application of a concept from one case to a new case) and "conceptual stretching" (the mismatch that happens when a concept does not fit a new case) is influential in social science methodology. Conceptual stretching is frequently used as a criticism of studies that employ large-N quantitative analysis.
On parties and party systems Sartori's
Parties and Party Systems: A Framework for Analysis (1976) provides a comprehensive and authoritative approach to the classification of party systems. It is see having as "outstanding, lasting significance to the field" on study on political parties.
Pluralism, multiculturalism and foreigners Sartori, in his 2000 work
Pluralismo, multiculturalismo e estranei: saggio sulla società multietnica, which has not been translated in English yet, remained reluctant to accept the possibility of authentic "integration" of different cultures. According to his position he distinguishes "pluralism" which in his view means shared civic values and reciprocal integration from "multiculturalism" which is regarded as a cause of social fragmentation that undermines common principles of coexistence. In this sense, he sustained that integration requires a social recognition of core civic principles, such as the separation of religion from political authority and the protection of universal individual rights. Following that hypothesis, for instance, Sartori suggested that certain forms of political islam suppose a challenge as far as its integration into western democracies is concerned, considering that islamic world view doesn´t accept separation of Church and State. Alongside, Quranic law doesn´t recognize universal and inviolable individual rights. == Honors and awards ==