Policy and policy making in the European Union

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Școala Națională de Studii Politice și Administrative, master's in EU communication and governance
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Aims and scope: 

This advanced module aims to provide an introduction to the analysis of European Union policy and policy-making processes. The general aims of the course is to provide a detailed and critical understanding of the output and the process of European Union policy making, to channel this knowledge through the wider context of political science, and to enable students to develop analytical and theoretical skills that provide the foundations for higher degrees or that can be transferred directly into non-academic careers. Readings, exercises and class presentations will encourage students to develop practical skills such the ability to plan and work independently and to summarise and elucidate an issue.

Topics: 

1. Introduction to the European Union. 2. Regulation of the single market. 3. Economic and Monetary Union. 4. Expenditure policies. 5. Interior and foreign policies. 6. Population and human capital policy. 7. Citizen participation: public opinion, elections and lobbying. 8. Inter-institutional negotiation I: legislative and budgetary decision making. 9. Inter-institutional negotiation II: executive and judicial decision making. 10. Negotiation inside EU institutions I: Division of labour and coordination. 11. Negotiation inside EU institutions II: Coalition formation. 12. Negotiation inside EMU: the ECB and the SGP. European Central Bank simulation. 13. EU treaty negotiation. 14. Revision / Exam preparation.

Indicative reading: 

The textbooks for this course are: Hix, S. and B. Hoyland (2011) The Political System of the European Union, 3rd edition. Palgrave Macmillan; Wallace, H., M.A. Pollack, and A.R. Young (eds) (2010) Policy-Making in the European Union, Sixth edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Other useful texts are: Franchino, F. (2007) The Powers of the Union: Delegation in the EU. CambridgeUniversity Press; Hix, S., A. Noury and G. Roland (2007) Democratic politics in the European Parliament. Cambridge University Press; Thomson, R. (2011) Resolving controversy in the European Union: legislative decision-making before and after enlargement. Cambridge University Press.

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