Admission requirements
Admission to the Master International Relations, track European Union Studies.
Description
Currently half to three quarters of legislation that applies on the national level originates in Brussels. Legislation that can have vast consequences (e.g. costs) for businesses, public organisations and consumers alike. This has attracted a wide variety of stakeholders to influence EU decision-making: there are approximately 20.000 EU lobbyists working for trade associations, companies, NGOs and other organizations, indicating that lobbying is an accepted and widespread part of the EU system. In comparison: there are approximately 50.000 civil servants working for these institutions.
In this course you will be made familiar with the practice of lobbying the EU, and the small but active field of academic research into lobbying in the EU. Academic research into EU lobby is a fairly recent field of study, in which researchers are continually exploring new ways to assess lobby success and other aspects of lobbying, with the information available.
First, we will discuss the main aspects of lobby in the EU; the information demands of the three institutions, the main lobby groups (businesses, NGOs and Member States) and the instruments they use to influence policy-making. To give practical insight in the process, we will explore one dossier from its conception in the European Commission, through to the decision-making on it in the Council of Ministers. Then we will discuss the available information and methods of research into different aspects of lobbying. For their paper, each student will be asked to choose a topic related to the case study dossier to research, and to apply one or more research techniques. These can be existing techniques used in the field of lobby research, or a technique students invent themselves. The goal of the paper will be to compare and critique research methods and contribute to the field of EU lobbying research.
Summary of main topics:
Introduction: the arena of EU lobbying
Stakeholders in EU lobbying
Lobbying strategy, using an existing dossier
Research techniques in the field of EU lobbying
Course objectives
This course will provide students with an understanding of the theory and practice of EU lobbying. Students will become acquainted with the arena within which EU lobbying takes place, and with the stakeholders involved. They will learn to explore different techniques of research into the aspects of lobbying, and to critique them.
The course will use a variety of sources (academic articles, policy documents and news articles) and we will work on a real dossier that has recently been subject to EU decision-making. The students will each do a presentation and write a research paper on research techniques in the field of lobbying.
Timetable
See Timetable.
Mode of instruction
- Interactive seminar.
Course Load
Total course load is 5 ec x 28 hours = 140 hours:
Attending seminars (attendance is compulsory): 4 hours per week × 6 weeks = 24 hours
time for studying the compulsory literature and preparation for the lectures; 8 hours per week x 6 weeks: 48 hours
Writing a paper (incl. research): 60 hours
Presentation: 8 hours
Assessment method
The final mark will be a combination of the following grades obtained during the classes, weighted in the following way:
take active part in class discussions (20%);
research paper (70%);
presentations (10%).
The final paper will only be marked if the student has attended the seminars.
Weighing
The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average.
Resit
A student that has failed the course can retake the research paper.
Exam review
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
The compulsory literature for weekly readings will be made available before the course.
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used for this course.
Registration
Via uSis.