Demands to “take back control”, protests against globalisation and contestation over supranational and global governance currently dominate politics in Europe. This course submits such debates to systematic analysis and asks why, how and with what consequences EU membership and economic globalisation are transforming the state as we know it. Students acquire the empirical knowledge, theoretical understanding and comparative research skills to analyse why European and global pressures change (and challenge) established national institutions, politics, policies and democracies – to explain why different states change to different degrees and to evaluate the consequences for legitimacy. The course first looks at Europeanisation, globalisation and statehood; it introduces the comparative method and discusses different theoretical explanations for state transformation. We then analyse the impact of pressures on national institutions, political parties, representation and policies. The final sections examine Europeanisation beyond the EU’s borders and debate whether EU membership and globalisation spell the end of national democracy and established concepts of belonging and citizenship. Throughout, we engage with current political questions including austerity, accountability, Euroscepticism and the EU’s role in its neighbourhood.
This course is for 1st year MIA students only.
Instructor
- Christine Reh , Professor of European Politics
