PSIR 514 European Politics
Assist. Prof. Dr. Alexander Bürgin
Spring 2015
Course Objectives / The purpose of this course is to develop students’ understanding of the milestones of the European integration process, the key features of the EU’s institutional architecture and the factors which have contributed to the establishment, shape and evolution of the political system and the policies of the EU.Course Learning Outcomes / The students who succeeded in this course;
- explain the milestones of the European integration process
- compare the explaining factors for the European integration process offered by different theoretical approaches
- illustrate how external and domestic factors inluence position and bargaining power of the involved stakeholdes
- discuss the strength and weakness of alternative theoretical explanations
- explain the functioning of the institutional architecture of the EU
- Interpret current European events in the light of different integration theories
- Apply integration/governance theories in their research
Course Content / The aim of this seminar is to understand the milestones of the European integration process, the key features of the EU’s institutional architecture and the factors which have contributed to the establishment, shape and evolution of the political system and the policies of the EU. The course comprises the following aspects: (1) an overview of the history of the EU (basic treaties and treaty revisions), (2) an overview of the main institutions of the EU (Council of Ministers/European Council, European Commission, European Parliament), the interinstitutional power relations among them, and their role vis-à-vis the domestic level, (3) an overview of European integration theories and theories of policy making, (4) an application of these theories and concepts in a selection of policy areas in which the EU has been most involved in.
WEEKLY SUBJECTS AND RELATED PREPARATION STUDIES
Week / Subjects / Related Preparation1- 17.2. / Introduction / Europe in 12 lessons,
2- 24.2. / Post-war Europe, Treaty of Paris and Treaty of Rome / Ian Bache/Stephen George (2006) Politics in the EU, chapter 5, 6, 7, 8, Desmond Dinan (2006) Origins and Evolution of the EU, ch.2, ch. 3
3- 3.3. / The Empty Chair Crisis, Single European Act, Maastricht Treaty, / Bache/George, chapter 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, Dinan, ch. 7, 12
4- 10.3. / Eastern Enlargement, Amsterdam Treaty, Nice Treaty, Constitutional Treaty, Lisbon Treaty / Bache/George, chapter 14, 15, 16, 17, , Bache et. al. Ch. 18 (2011 edition!!): From a European Constitution to the Lisbon Treaty, Dinan, ch. 13, European Commission (2009) Good to know about EU enlargement, , European Commission (2011) Understanding Enlargement,
5- 17.3. / An overview of European integration theories / Hoyland and Schieritz (2004) Theories of European Integration, Neill Nuggent (2006) The government and politics of the European Union, chapter 21; Jensen (2010) Neofunctionalism, in M. Cini et. al., European Union Politics, ch. 5, Cini (2010) Intergovernmentalism, in Cini et al. European Union Politics, ch. 6, Bache/Bulmer (2006), chapter 2
6- 24.3.. / The institutions of the European Union / Michelle Cini (2005): European Union Politics, ch. 9, 10,11
7- 31.3 / The European Commission: autonomous actor or agent of the MS? / Bocquillon, P. and Dobbels, M. (2014) An elephant on the 13th floor of the Berlaymont: European Council and Commission relations in legislative agenda-setting, Journal of European Public Policy, 21(1), 20-28, Bürgin, A. (2013) Salience, path dependency and the coalition between the European Commission and the Danish Council Presidency: why the EU opened a visa liberalization process with Turkey, European Integration Online Papers, 17(9), 1-19.
8- 3.4.(Friday) / Midterm
9- 7.4.. / The European Parliament and the democratic deficit debate / Rittberger (2003) The Creation of and Empowerment of the European Parliament, in Journal of Common Market Studies, 41(2), 203-225, Lord, C. (2013) The democratic legitmacy of codecison, Journal of Europea Public Policy, 20(7), 1056-1073, Grabbe, H. And Lehne, S (2013) The 2014 European elections. Why a partisan Commission president woud be bad for the EU, Centre for European Reform, BBC News (2009) Czech leader scorns EU politics
10- 14.4 / The Council: Dominated by the big member states? /
Tallberg (2008) Bargaining Power in the Council, Journal of Common Market Studies, 46 (3), 685-708, Dinan (2013) The Post-Lisbon European Council Presidency: An interim assessment, West European Politics 36(6), 1256-73, Cooper (2011)The euro crisis as the revenge of neo-functionalism, EU Observer, Cramme (2012), The worrying inevitability of EU intergovernmentalism, Policy Network
11- 21.4. / The transformative power of the EU: Europeanization Processes in CEEC / Schimmelfennig, F. And Sedelmeier, F. (2004) Governance by conditionality: EU rule transfer to the candidate countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Journal of European Public Policy 11(4), 661-679,12- 5.5. / Europeanization Processes in Turkey / T. Börzel and D. Soyaltin, “Europeanization in Turkey: Stretching a Concept to its Limits?” Working Paper Series, No. 36, Free University Berlin (2012), p. 6. A. (2014) Strategic Learning, Limited Europeanization: How the Turkish Police Used Twinning to Prepare itself for the Planned New Border Agency, Turkish Studies 15(3), 458-76 (online).
13- 12.5. / Presentations/ Reflection on the future of the European integration process
14- 19.5. / Official Holiday
SOURCES
Course Notes / Textbooks / A reading pack will be provided in the begining of the courseReferences / Websites of the EU institutions
EVALUATION SYSTEM
Semester Requirements / Number / Percentage of GradeAttendance/Participation / 14 / 10
Laboratory / - / -
Application / - / -
Field Work / - / -
Special Course Internship (Work Placement) / - / -
Quizzes/Studio Critics / - / -
Homework Assignments / 3 / 30
Presentation/Jury / 1 / 20
Project / 1 / 20
Seminar/Workshop / - / -
Midterms/Oral Exams / 1 / 20
Final/Oral Exam / - / -
Total / 20 / 100
PERCENTAGE OF SEMESTER WORK / - / 80
PERCENTAGE OF FINAL WORK / - / 20
Total / 0 / 100