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European Union Politics A

Module Code: POU33071

Module Name: European Union Politics A 2019-20

  • ECTS Weighting: 5
  • Semester/Term Taught: Semester 1
  • Contact Hours: 2 lectures per week; 1 tutorial per fortnight
  • Module Personnel: Lecturer - Prof Raj S. Chari
  • Office Hours: Chari’s Office, 4.04 CG, TBC

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

  • Analyse, specify and appraise different policies and how they affect the daily lives of people living in Europe.
  • Discriminate between the differing role of political actors and institutions when public policy is made in Europe.
  • Analyse, specify and appraise the role of domestic level and supranational level when economic, social, agriculture, foreign, competition and internal security policy is made.
  • Evaluate the importance of different theoretical concepts of how comparative public policy is made.
  • Summarize the range of research tools that you would use if you were to engage in further research on EU policy at a future date.

Module Learning Aims

The main aim of this course is to provide students with a critical understanding and comprehensive knowledge of the government and politics of the EU, with a focus on EU public policy.  In particular, we start the course by briefly examining the main institutions of the EU (the Commission, Council, European Parliament and the European Court of Justice), interest groups in Brussels, and different theoretical approaches to understanding policy-making. Thereafter students will learn about specific EU policies including: single market, competition, economic and monetary union, agriculture, social, internal and external policies. At the end of this course it is expected that students will have learned a detailed understanding of: how the EU institutions work, how public policy is formed and theoretical characterisations of the policy making process.


Module Content

The underlying theme of this course is to examine the extent to which the EU’s institutional framework and policy environment provide evidence of deepening integration, where national borders are increasingly irrelevant. This course deeply examines EU policies in the light of these approaches.

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Recommended Reading List

Chari, R. & Kritzinger, S. (2006) Understanding E.U. Policy Making, Pluto Press
Hix, S. & Hoyland, B. (2011) The Political System of the European Union, Palgrave
Michelle Cini and Nieves Perez-Solorzano Borragan, N. (eds.) European Union
Politics, 5th edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016).


Assessment Details (TBC)

1 mid-term essay (40%)
1 end of year essay 60%)

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