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Admissions requirements
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
Once available, timetables will be published in 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
The final grade for this course will be determined based on:
A blog post (10%): This year, session two of the course will be replaced by attendance at the final conference of the EU-STRAT project, which will take place in the Hague, Wijnhaven Campus, room 3.48, 11-12 April. Students are required to attend at least one session of the conference (for example the one taking place during their class) and write a short (600) blog post about the arguments and topics discussed. The best blog post entry will be published at one of Leiden’s blogs.
A multiple choice test (20%): will test understanding of what EU institutions do, aims to establish whether students have achieved understanding of the dynamics of EU decision making and institutions after the Lisbon treaty and after various crises. Questions and details are available below in the list of sessions.
A presentation (30%)
A long essay (40%): aims to synthesize themes of the course and invites students to reflect on them using what they have learned. Week 9
The deadlines for these contributions are Tuesday 23 April at 23:59 (blog posts) and Friday, 6 June at 23:59 (long essay).
Blackboard
There will be a Blackboard site available for this course. Students will be enrolled at least one week before the start of classes.
Reading list
John McCormick, European Union Politics, 2015 Palgrave McMillan, 2nd edition. (1st edition 2011 is also fine), plus articles and policy documents assigned per session
Registration
This course is open to LUC students and LUC exchange students. Registration is coordinated by the Education Coordinator. Interested non-LUC students should contact course.administration@luc.leidenuniv.nl.