General description

Insight into the praxis and political dynamics of social policy-making at the level of the European Union (and other supranational organizations); first-hand accounts of decision-making, political dynamics and the activities of organized societal interests and NGOs at the supranational level, provided by teacher.

Learning outcomes

This course provides students with in-depth knowledge and an insider’s insights into the actual politics of welfare policy-making at the supranational level. Students will observe European institutions, organizations, decision-making procedures, and actors “at work”, when they produce policy outputs, act (or function) within the arenas of the EU’s political structure, and interact with one another. They will gain an understanding of the relationship between the various formal institutional setups that exist at the supranational levels and the actual political dynamics taking place within these frameworks. The course addresses issues of political feasibility, considerations of the “political cost” of alternative courses of action, possible contradictions between a member-state logic of a policy proposal and its EU-level political rationale.

Contents

- Theorizing the interaction between states, supranational political structures and organized societal interests: Neofunctionalism, Intergovernmentalism, Ne-Institutionalism, and Political-Economic and Constructivist approaches to European Integration
- Policy-dynamics in the European Parliament: Between the member state-rationale, an European-level policy dynamic, and sub-national units as influential actors
- Policy initiative between Parliament, Commission, and Member States: Where does Innovation come from?
- The EU and other supranational organizations (WHO, UNESCO, IMF & World Bank) – competition or peaceful accord?
- The EU’s political system in its wider context: The role of organized societal interests, interest groups, NGOs, expert policy-advice, and un-coordinated societal impulses, impinging upon EU-decision-making
- The impact of the European project: Its past, present troubles, and future: Where do we stand in building a “Social Europe”.

Evaluation

Study materials

Article-literature: a reading list will be provided before the course.

Belongs to following study modules

2015–2016

Teaching

Archived Teaching Schedule. Please refer to current Teaching Shedule.

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