Description
This module provides an introduction to the politics and policies of the European Union (EU), and the debates around its democratic legitimacy.听It will give students an in-depth overview of topics such as how the EU works and how it developed over time; theories of integration; the EU鈥檚 main institutions and how they and other actors interact and make decisions, laws and policies; what sorts of policies it produces and how; the relationship between the EU and its citizens; and of the normative debate about the EU and its legitimacy. Students will learn to critically analyse and evaluate trends, to assess and analyse empirical evidence and its uses in argumentation, and to critically engage with theoretical arguments.听The Module complements ESPS0003: European Integration. This module may involve site visits in London, such as to Europe House London.听This module is available to EISPS students only.听
Topics covered may include the following:
- What is European Integration, and how to study it (definition of integration and the nature of the EU between a state and an international organisation; integration theories and scholarly approaches to European integration)
- The history and future of European integration (key moments and shifts in integration history in light of future scenarios)
- Institutions and Actors (who does what and how are decisions and policies produced; the interaction between Council, Commission, Parliament and Court, and civil society and citizens)
- The Politics of EU Democracy (democratic deficits; the discursive history of narratives of what would make the EU democratically legitimate; democratic backsliding)
- What does the EU do? Policies and policymaking (different types of policy and the policy making cycle and actors involved)
- One or more spotlights on select policy areas such as climate policy, foreign policy; or economic and monetary policy
- Judicial Politics (why we need the law and courts; the role of the Court of Justice; judicial politics; constitutionalisation of EU law, integration through law)
- Europe and the People (鈥渆veryday Europe鈥 and governmentality; public attitudes/permissive consensus to constraining dissensus; elections)
- Brexit: what happened, why, will it happen elsewhere, and what are its implications? 听
- Migration and Human Rights (freedom of movement; asylum and refugee politics)
Module deliveries for 2024/25 academic year
Last updated
This module description was last updated on 19th August 2024.
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