Admission requirements
Students admitted to the Public Administration Master, regardless of track affiliation. GofS-students enrolment via study coordinator(s).
Description
The European Union (EU) is one of the most complex political organizations ever created. Making and implementing common EU rules requires difficult negotiations and compromises. Conflicts run between different political parties, nationalities and social classes. How does the EU even manage to create policies that are applied in 27 member states, each with its own preferences, interests and capacities? Moreover, how are common European rules created in a way that is effective yet democratic and legitimate in the eyes of its more than 450 million citizens?
This course studies the challenges and realities of conflict and representation in the EU. We analyse the main EU decision-making procedures, with a focus on the mechanisms of negotiation and reconciliation. We discuss how the different EU institutions respond to the needs of representation and legitimacy. We deal with the nature of contemporary political conflicts in Europe, and the challenges of Euroscepticism, from the right and the left of political spectrum, for the future of European integration. We reflect on the possible futures of the EU in a rapidly transforming world.
The course introduces theories and concepts from public administration, political science and international relations for the analysis conflict and representation. But we only become familiar with the main data sources for the study of conflict and representation in the EU, including data on legislative procedures, party positions, EU public opinion and more. These data sources will be used for the empirical analysis of a real-world case of decision-making or implementation in the EU that the students will undertake. This assignment will give students direct insights into the nature of policymaking in the EU and skills for the in-depth analysis of political conflicts, and how they can be resolved.
Course objectives
You are familiar with the main approaches, theories and concepts for the study of conflict and cooperation in the EU.
You have a deep understanding of the challenges of political representation in multilevel polities, such as the EU, where dividing lines across nationality, political party support and social identity intersect.
You can analyse real-world cases of policy-making and implementation conflicts in the EU using appropriate theories and concepts.
Timetable
On the right side of programme front page of the Studyguide you will find links to the website and timetables, uSis and Brightspace.
Mode of instruction
The course is based on a combination of lectures and discussions. We meet once per week. During the meetings we discuss the assigned readings and the broader themes that the readings engage with.
Assessment method
Your final grade is based on a final research paper. The research paper accounts for 100% of the grade. There is an opportunity to revise the paper during the retake period, if the grade received after the first submission is insufficient. The research paper will analyse a real-world case of policy-making or policy implementation conflict in the EU with the help of the theories and concepts introduced in class.
Reading list
Two/three academic articles and/or policy reports per session. The links to the assigned literature will be available on Brightspace.
Registration
Please note, registration for block 2 electives will be organised by the OSC in a different way from the regular course registration for semester 1. More information about this will follow in the second half of September.
Leiden University uses Brightspace as its online learning management system. After enrolment for the course in MyStudymap you will be automatically enrolled in the Brightspace environment of this course.
Contact
Dr. Dimiter Toshkov, d.d.toshkov@fgga.leidenuniv.nl