Admission requirements
Required course:
- Introduction Globalisation and Transnational Politics
Description
This course takes a fresh look at European integration and recent developments in the European Union (EU). It focuses on:
recent dynamics of European integration and the EU’s response to various crises
changes in the European Union’s institutions after the ratification of the Lisbon treaty (2009)
the Union’s policies and their (potential) impact
public opinion and support for future integration
At the start, insights from several major streams of academic studies of European integration, EU institutions and policies, will be introduced. The main features of EU institutions post Lisbon will be discussed. Next, the course will focus on policies and policy outputs to understand what impact the EU might have on the lives of citizens. We will explore a range of policy areas such as the internal market, recent developments in European economic and financial governance, developments in security and the global role of the EU. The course will also analyze and discuss the responses of the EU’s member states to challenges such as the post 2008 financial and economic crisis. In the third part of the course, we will address the key challenges for the EU today: Brexit, the effects of enlargement, citizen responses to European integration, scenarios for future development.
Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
Understand the European Union decision making and policy process with an emphasis on the role of various political institutions at the EU level
Grasp the various theoretical approaches that have been used to analyse EU decision making and policies
Be able to summarize the most important findings of articles and policy documents pertaining to aspects of EU policy making
Apply knowledge gained in the course to present a recent policy making measure and reflect on its potential impact
Demonstrate collaboration skills and teamwork in researching the policy measure and making a presentation on it
Understand and reflect upon citizen responses to European integration and the factors that influence these responses and attitudes
Analyse and interpret recent developments in European integration.
Timetable
Timetables for courses offered at Leiden University College in 2020-2021 will be published on this page of the e-Prospectus.
Mode of instruction
The course is based on an interactive teaching format. Class sessions will consist of lectures, discussions, and presentations by students.
Each session will include a lecture by the instructors, to be followed or preceded by an interactive discussion which will draw on the course readings specified for the session.
Students will conduct most coursework individually, but will benefit from exchanges of insights and thoughts with their classmates.
Each session draws on the respective book chapter and two to three readings providing different perspectives on its central theme.
Assessment Method
A1 Policy measure research plan: 15%
Students submit a plan for the presentation in which they outline which EU policy measure they will select, what aspects they will research, where the data comes from, what the interesting aspects/issues are. Guidance is provided by the instructors on this.A2 Multiple choice test 30% tests knowledge of institutions (as last year)
A3 Presentation 15% (teams of two) students present researched policy measure for 20 minutes, based on the plan and our feedback.
A4: Policy measure report 40% students write the findings of their research into the policy measure they presented. Individual reports are written on different aspects of the measure researched.
Reading list
- John McCormick, European Union Politics, 2015 Palgrave McMillan, 2nd edition. (1st edition 2011 is also fine)
Additional articles and policy documents will be provided via Brightspace.
Registration
Courses offered at Leiden University College (LUC) are usually only open to LUC students and LUC exchange students. Leiden University students who participate in one of the university’s Honours tracks or programmes may register for one LUC course, if availability permits. Registration is coordinated by the Education Coordinator, course.administration@luc.leidenuniv.nl.
Contact
Prof. dr. Antoaneta Dimitrova, a.l.dimitrova@fgga.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
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