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BA § 5 (1) 5.b European Integration - Introduction

European Union: Integration, Institutions and Policy-Making

Students will become acquainted with the EU's main procedures and institutions, their respective role in European policy-making, and their function in the larger integration process. They will be able to apply concepts from comparative politics to relate the EU's unique (yet commensurable) institutional setting to domestic political systems and international institutions. Thereby, students will develop a basic understanding for how institutional factors encourage some of the policy patterns typical for "Europe", such as patchwork policy, incrementalism, and asymmetrical integration. Students will also learn to understand, critically evaluate, and research academic literature, both individually and through teamwork.

The main subject of this seminar are the European Union's most important institutions and their respective roles in European policy-making and integration. The seminar also compares the EU's institutional order to other political systems, and it offers a very basic background in integration theory. These conceptual tools will help us to understand how the EU's institutions may affect everyday policy-choices as well as the larger trajectory of European integration.

Guided Reading with Tasks: Students read selected political science literature as well as introductory textbook material from the syllabus. Before each session, they are required to submit short tasks and/or answers to a text-related quiz (online).

Classroom discussion: The classroom discussions are structured by the weekly tasks and alternate between small groups and the plenary, as appropriate given learning outcomes and progress.

Group Project: Students will prepare "cheat sheets" that describe the major EU institutions and governance procedures at a glance, using predefined categories, such as the institution's composition, its role across policy-areas, or domestic analogies. Subgroups responsible for a particular institution or procedure will review all "cheat sheets" and produce an improved synthesis. The objective is to create a complete glossary in the form of a card-deck for each student to take home.

Written assignment: Students will write two short (1500 words excluding references) essays. The essays examine the role of a particular institution or governance procedure for a contemporary or historical policy issue, based on additional literature and with the feedback received from the class and the lecturer.

Guided Reading with Tasks: 20%

Classroom discussion: 20%

Group Project: 30%

Written assignment: 30%

Obligatory preparation for the first session:

Simon Hix and Bjørn Høyland, The Political System of the European Union, 3. ed. (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) Chapter 1.

Markus Jachtenfuchs, “The European Union as Polity (II),” in Handbook of European Union Politics, ed. Knud Erik Jørgensen, Mark A. Pollack, and Ben Rosamond (London, UK:
SAGE, 2007), 159–173.

See the syllabus for additional literature.

successful completion of the module according to § 5 Para 1 No 1

This seminar will be held in German. Students seeking an English-language alternative should consider PS 402032.