EU489      Half Unit
Analytical Politics and Policymaking in Europe

This information is for the 2020/21 session.

Teacher responsible

Prof Christopher Anderson CBG 6.05

Availability

This course is available on the MSc in Culture and Conflict in a Global Europe, MSc in Culture and Conflict in a Global Europe (LSE & Sciences Po), MSc in European Studies (Research), MSc in European and International Public Policy, MSc in European and International Public Policy (LSE and Bocconi), MSc in European and International Public Policy (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in Political Economy of Europe, MSc in Political Economy of Europe (LSE and Sciences Po) and MSc in The Global Political Economy of China and Europe (LSE and Fudan). This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

Course content

This course introduces students to governance in Europe at the national and European Union levels. This course has two objectives, one substantive and one methodological. First, students learn about politics and policymaking in European democracies and the European Union. Topics include the demand for and supply of policy options: e.g., public policy preferences, government formation and duration, direct democracy and accountability, and supranational policy coordination. Second, this course is intended to introduce students to a set of analytical and empirical tools and concepts for understanding how political institutions and political agents jointly generate public policy, and to apply these tools in examining political and policy outcomes in European states. Lessons about political decision making, institutions, and the policy making process will be understood from the perspective of decision makers – that is, an individual or organisation that develops strategy in order to advance policy change. The course runs for the Lent Term.

Teaching

This course is delivered through a combination of seminars and lectures totalling a minimum of 27.5 hours across Lent Term.  This year, some or all of this teaching will be delivered through a combination of recorded lectures, flipped lectures (online discussion of lecture materials), and in-person and/or virtual seminars. This course includes a reading week in Week 6 of the Lent Term.  A review session will be held at the start of the Summer Term to prepare for the online assessment

Formative coursework

Students will be expected to produce 1 presentation in the LT.

Indicative reading

  • Budge, Ian. 2019. Politics: A Unified Introduction to How Democracy Works. Routledge.
  • Powell, G. Bingham. 2019. Ideological Representation: Achieved and Astray: Elections, Institutions, and the Breakdown of Ideological Congruence in Parliamentary Democracies. Cambridge University Press.
  • Putnam, R. (1988). Diplomacy and domestic politics: the logic of two-level games. In International Organizations, 42(3), pp. 427-460.
  • Tsebelis, G. (2002). Veto Players: How Political Institutions Work. Princeton University Press.
  • Pollack, M. (2015). Theorizing EU Policy-Making. In Wallace et al. (Eds). (2015). Policy-making in the European Union. Oxford: OUP.
  • Moravcsik, A. (1998). The Choice for Europe: Social Purpose and State Power from Messina to Maastricht. Cornell University Press.
  • Hagemann, S., Bailer, S. and Herzog, A. (2019) ‘Signals to their parliaments?: Governments’ use of votes and policy statements in the EU Council, JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 57 (3), 634-650
  • Boerzel, T., Hofmann, T. Panke, D. and Sprungk, K. (2010). Obstinate and Inefficient: Why Member States Do Not Comply With European Law. In Comparative Political Studies, 43(11), pp. 1363-1390.
  • Schneider, C. and Slantchev, B. (2018). The Domestic Politics of International Cooperation: Germany and the European Debt Crisis. In International Organization, 72(1), pp. 1-31.
  • Hobolt, S. (2016). The Brexit Vote: A Divided Nation, A Divided Continent. In Journal of European Public Policy, 23(9), pp. 1259-1277.
  • De Vries, C. (2018). Euroscepticism and the Future of European Integration. Oxford: OUP.

Assessment

Essay (10%, 1000 words) in the LT.
Online assessment (90%) in the ST.

Important information in response to COVID-19

Please note that during 2020/21 academic year some variation to teaching and learning activities may be required to respond to changes in public health advice and/or to account for the situation of students in attendance on campus and those studying online during the early part of the academic year. For assessment, this may involve changes to mode of delivery and/or the format or weighting of assessments. Changes will only be made if required and students will be notified about any changes to teaching or assessment plans at the earliest opportunity.

Key facts

Department: European Institute

Total students 2019/20: Unavailable

Average class size 2019/20: Unavailable

Controlled access 2019/20: No

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Personal development skills

  • Self-management
  • Team working
  • Problem solving
  • Application of information skills
  • Communication
  • Specialist skills