Summary GV251 Michaelmas Term Readings, Lecture and Class Notes
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Cours
GV251
Établissement
London School Of Economics (LSE)
The course is divided into two parts; (i) Government and Politics: the EU as a political system, the Council, the Commission and the European Parliament, the Court of Justice and Judicial politics, public opinion and EP elections, parties and Europe, interest representation; (ii) Public Policy. Pol...
1. How similar/different is the EU from other political systems?
- Unlike international organizations, the EU has significant independent executive,
legislative and judicial powers, rather like a state
- However, unlike a federal ‘state’, the EU’s member state governments remain the
sovereign signatories of the EU treaty, the budget of the EU remains small, the
EU relies on the voluntary compliance of the member states for the enforcement
of EU law, the member states remain sovereign in many areas of policy
(including the ability to sign international treaties)
- EU has an ‘intergovernmental body’ – the European Council, which brings
together the heads of state and government of EU member states - increasing
central role in EU decision making
- All Political Systems have:
- 1. There is a stable and clearly defined set of institutions for collective
decision-making and a set of rules governing relations between and
within these institutions
- 2. Citizens seek to realize their political desires through the political system,
either directly or through intermediary organizations such as interest groups
and political parties
- 3. Collective decisions in the political system have a significant impact
on the distribution of economic resources and the allocation of values across
the whole system.
- 4. There is continuous interaction between these political outputs, new
demands on the system, new decisions and so on
- Differences:
- The degree of institutional stability and complexity in the EU is far
greater than in any other international regime
- EU institutions have taken on executive, legislative and
judicial powers of government, an increasing number of
groups attempt to make demands on the system
- EU decisions are highly significant and felt throughout the
EU
- Political process of EU is permanent
2. Which theoretical approach best explains the process of European integration?
- Neofunctionalism
- Neofunctionalists conceptualize the state as an arena in which
societal actors operate to realize their interests
- Rather than explaining international politics as a game among states,
neofunctionalists consider international relations as the interplay of
societal actors
- Neofunctionalism explains integration as the outcome of
cooperation and competition among societal actors
- If groups within or among states believe that supranational
institutions are more promising than national institutions
in achieving their interests, then regional integration will
result
, - Neofunctionalism takes on the functionalist idea that international
cooperation is a response to scale economies in the provision of
public goods
- Neofunctionalists identify a series of mutually reinforcing processes
that lead to further integration:
- These include spillover among policies that are autonomous
only in the short term; increasing reliance on non-state actors
to implement such policies; a shift in citizen attachment
towards supranational institutions; and as a result of each of
these, more intensive exploitation of the benefits of trade and,
more broadly, of interdependence.
- Neofunctionalism expects the path of integration to be
jagged. Crises may delay or even retard integration, but the
guiding assumption is that, over time, policy spillover and
supranational activism will produce an upward trend. The
term, European integration, itself reflects the neofunctionalist
premise that we are witnessing a process that has a
direction.
- Intergovernmentalism
- Intergovernmentalists view European integration from the standpoint
of national states searching for mutually advantageous bargains
- Intergovernmentalism explains integration as the outcome of
cooperation and competition among national governments
- Integration:
- Views regional integration as a response to shifts in the
balance of power
- In the case of European integration, the key development is
the post-war US-Soviet duopoly which relegated European
states to mid-range powers
- Integration therefore has its core in economics, and it leaves
state sovereignty untouched or it strengthens the national
state
- Liberal intergovernmentalism argues that states may
rationally conclude agreements for institutional
cooperation. These international cooperations are the
exclusive product of national leaders, and behind these,
functional, economic interests
- Postfunctionalism
- Emphasizes the disruptive potential of a clash between functional
pressures and exclusive identity
- Postfunctionalism pays detailed attention to the arena in which an
issue is debated because it affects the nature of conflict.
- Mass politics in elections, referendums, and party primaries opens
the door to the mobilization of national identity as a constraint on
integration.
3. Why has Britain's relationship with European integration been so difficult?
- Failure to agree on a common goal of collective activity is certainly at the
root of Brexit
, - Failure to specify the real purpose of the integration process permits EU
leaders to use institutional survival as the criterion of success
- The euro crisis, the inability to find a common solution of the immigration
problem, and, last but certainly not least, Brexit have shown how limited is
the impact of (EU-style) Europeanisation. The basic reason of this limited
impact is to be found in the prevailing, largely procedural, view of
integration.
- The UK is, in any case, a weak supplicant with a lot to lose while the EU is in
the driver’s seat with much less to lose.
- The expected result is that the UK seeks to remain part of the single
market, but symbolically preserves its sovereignty by formally divorcing
itself from the EU.
- Neofunctionalism places great emphasis on the economic
interdependencies that sustain pressure for integration
- Postfunctionalism argues that Brexit referendum illustrates a tension
between functional pressures for integration and nationalist resistance
that is part of a wider divide across Europe.
Lecture
GV251 Teachers
- Class Teachers:
- Daniela Movileanu (D.Movileanu@lse.ac.uk)
- Paul Kindermann (P.A.Kindermann@lse.ac.uk)
- Office Hours can be arranged on LSE StudentHub
Background
Lectures – Part 1: Govt & Politics
1. The Political System of the European Union
2. The Council & the Policy-Process
3. The European Parliament & the Legislative Process
4. The Commission & the Policy-Process
5. The Court and Judicial Politics
6. Reading Week
7. Public Opinion
, 8 European Elections
9. Political Parties and Europe
10. The Democratic Deficit Debate
11. Interest Representation
Lectures – Part 2: Public Policy
1. Conceptualising Policy-Making in the EU
2. Justice & Home Affairs I: Regulating Asylum Standards
3. Justice & Home Affairs II: Sharing Refugee ‘Burdens’
4. Economic Policies I: Single Market
5. Economic Policies II: Budget/Redistribution
6. Reading Week
7. Economic Policies III: EMU
8. Social Policies I
9. Social Policies II
10. Foreign Policies I: Processes
11. Foreign Policies II: Actions
Course Structure (for details see GV251 Moodle pages)
- Lectures (in-person)
- Classes (in person, starting week 2)
- Reading Weeks (week 6)
- No lecture, no class
- Assignments:
- Formative: Four essays
- Summative: Online (take-home) ‘3 hours in one-week period’
The Political System of the EU
- Part 1: Short History of EU Integration
- Part 2: The EU Now
- Institutions
- Politics
- Policies and Policy-making
Part 1.1: A short history of integration
Phase 1: Institutional Establishment (50s and early 60s)
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