European Union: Integration and Disintegration
MSc seminar, Leiden University (Spring 2023; Fall 2023)
In this graduate-level seminar, we will study the rationale for European (dis)integration and day-to-day politics in the European Union (EU). On the one hand, we will review the grand theories of European integration. Through the prism of these theories, we will assess the recent crises in the EU and what the (divided) reactions across and within member states imply for the future of European (differentiated) integration or disintegration. On the other hand, we will survey the EU’s institutional structure and policy-making processes. Relying on theories of, among others, policy-making, legislative organization, party politics, and democratic representation, we will analyse critical issues such as the low electoral participation in European Parliament elections, the rise of Euroskepticism, variable compliance with EU decisions among member states, and democratic responsiveness of EU institutions and policies to its citizens and member states. The seminar will provide students with the theoretical insights, analytical skills and research tools necessary to assess contemporary challenges to European integration.
The Politicization of European Integration
BSc seminar, Leiden University (Spring 2021; Fall 2020)
The course is an introduction to the politics of policy-making at national and international level. Understanding the dynamics behind policy-making is indispensable to grasp questions relevant to our every-day life: What issues capture the attention of the policy-makers and why? How are decisions taken? Are decisions taken rationally? What is the role of experts? Is lobbying a positive expression of interest representation or did lobbyists take over our democracy? Is secrecy necessary and justifiable in some cases? We will discuss these and other questions during the course. Students will analyze different stages of the policy-cycle and explore the roles played by different actors in the process. The seminars will also focus on lobbying, the role of expertise and evidence, as well as on policy responsiveness and democratic legitimacy. In scrutinizing these concepts, we will draw on recent examples of policy-making.
Euroscepticism: Causes, Consequences and Responses
BSc seminar and bachelor project, Leiden University (Spring 2020)
BA seminar, University of Mannheim (Fall 2018)
The future course of European integration has become the subject of public contestation and heated political debate. The failed EU constitutional treaty in 2005, the divided reactions to the economic and refugee crises across and within member states over the past decade, and, ultimately, the exit vote in the Brexit referendum in 2016 all depict the end of the era of permissive consensus. Questions such as what drives Eurosceptic attitudes, who are the Eurosceptic voters, are these voters the actual losers of European integration, as well as how political actors and the EU have been affected by and responded to the end of the permissive consensus to European integration have become pressing. In this course we will examine the effect of the EU’s politicization on electoral behaviour in domestic and European elections, the positions of mainstream and fringe political parties and the responsiveness of national governments and EU institution to public attitudes towards specific EU policies, integration steps or the overall EU regime. The course will evaluate these questions through the lenses of theories of public support for international politics, winners and losers of globalization, political behaviour, populism and responsiveness. It will introduce student to the state of the art analytical literature and data on public attitudes towards the EU and political responses to Euroscepticism. In the second part of the course in Block IV, the students will apply the acquired knowledge in their own research projects and write their bachelor theses on the topic under the instructor’s supervision.
European Union Politics
MA research seminar, University of Mannheim (Spring 2018, Fall 2012)
This graduate-level seminar will familiarize students with the state of the art analytical research on European Union politics. At a theoretical level, we will review bargaining and procedural models of decision-making (and the importance of agenda setting, veto power and gate-keeping), legislative organization, bicameralism, executive-legislative relations, party politics, among others. At an empirical level, we will assess issues such as the low electoral participation in the European Parliament elections, the rise of Euroscepticism, the legitimacy of law-making via informal institutions, the drivers and impact of differentiated integration and variable compliance with EU decisions among member states. Students will engage in either replicating and extending existing research, or case study research tracking the development and explaining the outcome of legislative proposals. We will conclude by reflecting on the future of Europe in the shadow of increased EU politicization following the Eurozone, refugee and Brexit crises.
Challenges to European Integration in the 21st Century
BA seminar, University of Mannheim (Fall 2017, Fall 2016)
This course will provide students with an in-depth understanding of day-to-day politics in the European Union and the theoretical insights, analytical skills and research tools necessary to assess contemporary challenges to European integration. We will survey EU’s institutional structure and policy-making processes and analyse issues such as the low electoral participation in the European Parliament elections, the rise of Euroskepticism, the legitimacy and efficiency of law-making via informal institutions, the increase of differentiated integration and the determinants of variable compliance with EU decisions among member states, the consequences and prospects of EU enlargement as well as the democratic deficit of the Union. We will further critically assess major issues facing EU policy-makers in recent years, such as the euro crisis, refuge crisis and Brexit referendum, and reflect on the future of European integration.
EU Integration and Policy-Making
BA lecture, University of Mannheim (Spring 2017, Spring 2014)
This course introduces students to the development, institutional structure, functioning and policies of the European Union. The first part of the course positions the EU political system in a comparative perspective and offers an overview of various theories of integration. It examines the executive, legislative and judicial politics of the EU, surveying the role and internal organization of the EU institutions, the main procedures and processes of interinstitutional decision-making as well as the role of interest groups in shaping EU legislation. The second part of the course turns to the powers of the EU in selected policy fields, assessing its role in tackling the recent Eurozone, refugee, and security crises as well as member states’ compliance with EU decisions. The course concludes with a discussion of the future of the Union given its unresolved democratic deficit problems and the rise in Euroscepticism, which culminated in the Brexit referendum.
Academic Research and Writing
BA tutorial, University of Mannheim (Fall 2018, Fall 2016, Fall 2014)
This seminar will teach you how to read academic texts critically and efficiently, how to write papers required for your courses, and how to do oral presentations. The seminar will walk you through the important stages of researching and writing about a subject that interests you, from choosing a topic, through narrowing down your interest in the form of a research question and finding relevant literature, to making a research plan. In addition to this, you will learn how to use library resources and cite correctly your references. To help acquiring these skills you will be assigned a number of small home exercises.
European Union Politics
BA seminar, University of Mannheim (Fall 2015)
This advanced undergraduate-level seminar offers an introduction to the state of the art analytical literature on the European Union. We will examine the functioning and interplay of the EU institutions, focusing on the process of EU law making. At a theoretical level, the course will familiarize students with analytical and spatial models of decision-making (and the importance of agenda setting, veto power and gate-keeping), legislative organization, bicameralism, executive-legislative relations, party politics, etc. At an empirical level, we will revisit selected analyses of EU policy-making. Students will engage in conducting innovative case studies tracking the development and explaining the outcome of single legislative proposals. We will conclude with assessing the future of the EU in light of the recent crises.
International Politics
MA lecture, University of Mannheim (Spring 2015)
This course introduces students into the main topics of international politics, such as the analysis of international cooperation and international organizations, the theory of democratic peace, and the causes and consequences of inter-state wars, more generally, and civil and ethnic wars, more specifically. The goal of the course is not merely to familiarize students with the core theoretical and empirical literature on these topics, but also to provide them with the basic analytical concepts and techniques that are essential in understanding international politics.
Legislative Politics: The European Parliament
BA seminar, University of Mannheim (Fall 2014)
This course provides a theoretical and empirical analysis of legislative politics in the European Parliament (EP) and its role in EU policy-making. At a theoretical level, the topics cover major approaches to the study of legislative behaviour, organisation and decision making borrowed primarily from the literature on the US Congress. At an empirical level, the examined readings evaluate the implications of legislators’ electoral, policy and career goals for their legislative behaviour; the role of EP organisation (political parties, committees and rules); the consequences of gate-keeping, agenda setting and veto power as well as bicameralism for decision-making in the EU; and the parliamentary oversight of the EU executive. At a normative level, it is assessed whether and how the Parliament helps solving the democratic deficit problem of the Union.
Coalition Government
BA seminar, University of Mannheim (Spring 2014)
Party coalitions form the backbone of governments in modern parliamentary democracies, whereas single party governments are the exception rather than the rule. How do party coalitions come about? How do institutional structures such as parliamentary committees, shadow ministries and the prime minister help enforce coalition agreements and keep coalition partners together? Conversely, what explains the duration and ultimate breakdown of coalition governments? In this course, we will address these questions by studying various theories of coalition formation, governance and duration and how to analyze these theories.
The Politics of Reform in Central and Eastern Europe
MA course, University of Mannheim (Spring 2012)
This is a graduate-level seminar covering topics on comparative politics, political economy and international relations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) since the fall of Communism. We will, first, briefly explore the historic development and fall of the Communist regime in various CEE countries. We will then turn to the core topic of this course – the dual transition to democracy and free market economy in these countries. At a theoretical level, each week we will discuss a different aspect of democratic political systems (such as cleavages, civil society, party competition, electoral system, electoral behaviour, political institutions and policy-making) and what we know about it from comparative research on Western democracies. At an empirical level, we will then evaluate to what extent established theories can explain the experiences of post-communist countries, which had to swiftly reshape their political systems and liberalise their economies in the past two decades. Current topics on the accession of CEE countries into the European Union and the Euro-zone will be discussed in the third part of the course, reviewing the literature on the accession conditionality, EU compliance and Euroskepticism.
Legislative Politics: The European Parliament and EU Policy-Making
MA course, University of Mannheim (Spring 2011)
This course provides a theoretical and empirical analysis of legislative politics with a focus on the European Parliament (EP) and its role in EU policy-making. At a theoretical level, the topics cover major approaches to the study of legislative behaviour, organisation and decision making borrowed primarily from the literature on the US Congress. At an empirical level, the examined readings evaluate the implications of legislators’ electoral, policy and career goals for their legislative behaviour; the role of the EP organisation (political parties, committees and rules); the consequences of gate-keeping, agenda setting and veto power as well as bicameralism for decision-making in the EU; and the parliamentary oversight of the EU executive. At a normative level, it is assessed whether and how the Parliament helps solving the democratic deficit problem of the Union.
