This module is not currently running in 2021 to 2022.
The aim of the module is offer an advanced understanding of the functioning of the European Union as a system of supra-national governance. It is divided into two main parts. The first part focusses on the key institutions involved in the governance process and analyses the nature and functioning of each of them as well as the interaction among them from a theoretical, empirical and normative perspective. The second part focusses on the system’s ‘outputs’ in terms of public policy, with particular attention paid to the fields of market regulation, monetary union, justice and home affairs, and enlargement. The module ends with a debate on the effectiveness and the legitimacy of the European Union as a system of supra-national governance and on how it should be reformed to maximise those aspects.
100% coursework.
Cini, Michelle and Nieves Solorzano-Borragan. 2013. European Union Politics. Fourth Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
On successful completion of the module, students will have acquired:
Advanced familiarity with the main theoretical approaches to the study of governance in the EU.
The ability to apply them to complex empirical cases in the EU system of governance.
In-depth knowledge of the horizontal pattern of interaction between the central institutions of the European Union.
In-depth knowledge of the vertical pattern of interaction between institutions and actors at the state and Union level.
Advanced ability to evaluate these processes of governance against normative political principles.
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