The public politicisation of the European Union - Einzelansicht

Political decision-making of the European Union (EU) increasingly permeate national politics but are often taken in rather closed settings dominated by executive or technocratic actors. Yet, as the examples of the failed 2005 referenda on a European Constitution or the debates on European policies amid the debt or migration crises show, this mode of decision-making is increasingly challenged by controversial public debates. Decisions taken on levels beyond the nation state figure prominently in the news, the respective public opinion is much more aware but also more diversified, and various societal actors ranging from social movements to political parties, in particular, actively mobilize on European questions.

Based on the current research agenda, the seminar provides a systematic overview of this public EU politicization. By reading recent empirical literature, the participants delve into the different arenas in which politicization takes place, carve out the emerging lines of political conflict on governance beyond the nation state, and finally discuss the resulting challenges for decision-making in the EU (and partially other international institutions). On this basis, the seminar aims to enable participants to assess and to apply the politicization concept to various questions of European politics.

The seminar addresses students who already control some knowledge on EU decision-making, comparative politics, and/or political sociology. You should be willing to engage in both the substantial and methodological issues of the literature to be read, and be prepared to actively participate during the individual sessions. Besides regular participation, assignments include one active participation role (presenter, minute-taker, or debater) and a term paper which applies one of the discussed aspects to a freely chosen empirical issue of (contemporary) EU politics.

Note that the seminar will be designed around the flipped class room approach. A detailed syllabus will be available in the second week of September at www.christian-rauh.eu/teaching

Political decisions of the European Union (EU) increasingly permeate national politics but are often taken in rather closed settings dominated by executive or technocratic actors. Yet, as the examples of the failed 2005 referenda on a European Constitution or the debates on European policies amid the debt or migration crises show, this mode of decision-making is increasingly challenged by controversial public debates. Decisions taken on levels beyond the nation state figure prominently in the news, the respective public opinion is much more aware but also more diversified, and various societal actors ranging from social movements to political parties, in particular, actively mobilize on European questions.

Based on the current research agenda, the seminar provides a systematic overview of this public EU politicization. By reading recent empirical literature, the participants delve into the different arenas in which politicization takes place, carve out the emerging lines of political conflict on governance beyond the nation state, and finally discuss the resulting challenges for decision-making in the EU (and partially other international institutions). On this basis, the seminar aims to enable participants to assess and to apply the politicization concept to various questions of European politics.

The seminar is split into three blocks. The first block introduces the basic concepts and presents the most prominent arguments on the drivers and consequences of the politicization of supranational governance. The second block then looks into the actual dynamics of politicization in different societal arenas (public opinion, social movements, national parliaments, media, and party competition), mainly by discussing the recent empirical (and often quantitative) research literature. The third and final block then pulls the strings together and aims at an aggregate perspective which enables us to discuss the normative and pragmatic consequences that politicization has for intergovernmental and supranational decision-making in the EU.

The seminar is designed around the flipped classroom approach. Contrary to traditional teaching in class, I will offer the lecture and content delivery part of the seminar before our meetings. This will typically be one or two introductory texts for your own reading and a lecture video shared via Moodle roughly three days before each session. For you, this approach has two key advantages. First, it allows you to learn about the key contents of each session at your own speed. Second, it frees up in-class time for joint, active learning: together we will deepen the key contents of each session on the basis of your questions, group discussions and debates, as well as presentations of more advanced topics. To realize these advantages all participants should take both their own preparation phase as well as our joint in-class work seriously along individual steps specified in the syllabus, on Moodle and in the first session.

Prospective participants should thus be willing to:

• Engage with the substantive and methodological aspects of political science literature,
• Invest in active self-learning based on the various materials provided,
• Contribute their knowledge, views, and questions to our active learning in class.

The seminar addresses students who control some prior knowledge on EU decision-making, comparative politics, and/or political sociology. You should be be prepared to actively participate during the individual sessions. Assignments include one active participation role (presenter, minute-taker, or debater) and a term paper which applies one of the discussed aspects to a freely chosen empirical issue of (contemporary) EU politics.

A detailed syllabus will be available in the second week of September at www.christian-rauh.eu/teaching

Detailed literature for each session will be supplied in the syllabus and via Moodle.

If you want to learn more about the seminar topics beforehand, the following three pieces provide good impressions:

Rauh, C. (2021) ‘Between neo-functionalist optimism and post-functionalist pessimism: Integrating politicisation into integration theory’, in N. Brack and S. Gürkan (eds). Theorising the Crises of the European Union. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, pp. 119–137.

Hooghe, L. and Marks, G. (2009) ‘A Postfunctionalist theory of European integration: From permissive consensus to constraining dissensus’, British Journal of Political Science 39(1): 1–23.

Zürn, M., Binder, M. and Ehrhardt, M. (2012) ‘International authority and its politicization’, International Theory 4(01): 69–106.

The seminar addresses advanced B.A. students who control some prior knowledge on EU decision-making AND/OR comparative politics AND/OR political sociology.

You should be be prepared to actively participate during the individual sessions. Assignments include one active participation role (presenter, minute-taker, or debater) and a term paper which applies one of the discussed aspects to a freely chosen empirical issue of (contemporary) EU politics.