Module SGIA3571: SPECIAL TOPIC ON EUROPEAN UNION POLITICS

Department: Government and International Affairs

SGIA3571: SPECIAL TOPIC ON EUROPEAN UNION POLITICS

Prerequisites

• Any Level 2 SGIA module

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• The aim of this module is to enable students to gain in-depth knowledge and understanding of European Union politics.
• It offers students the chance to analyse EU integration theories, institutions, policies and principles, and apply these to current debates within the EU and among its member states.

Content

• Early lectures will provide some historical context and introduce appropriate theoretical and conceptual frameworks for analysis before moving on to specific topics. These will respond to current and emerging issues in the region, but indicative content may include some of the following:
• Conceptual approaches to EU policy-making
• The process of European integration
• The interaction between EU institutions and member states
• The process of deepening the Single European Market
• EU enlargement and neighbourhood policies.
• The Brexit process
• Common Security and Defence Policy
• Justice and Home Affairs, including immigration and asylum policy
• Impact of and solutions to the Eurozone crisis
• The EU as a global actor
• The Normative Power of the EU
• EU democracy

Learning Outcomes

• On successful completion of the module students will:-
• have gained an in-depth knowledge of different EU policy approaches
• be able to critically analyse the tensions between different member state interests and integration in defined policy areas;
• comprehend the extent to which the processes of enlargement and exit present challenges and opportunities for European integration
• be able to apply major scholarly approaches to EU politics
• understand the role and influence of the EU in the world.

• On successful completion of the module students will:-
• be familiar with the major primary and secondary sources in defined policy areas
• be able to analyse sources critically and use them as a basis for their own independent research;
• understand the multi-level system of governance in the EU, which involves the interaction between a multiplicity of actors on different levels;
• be able to apply appropriate theories and concepts to analyse European institutions and integration

• On successful completion of the module students will:-
• have engaged in independent research based on an informed selection of sources;
• be able to develop an individual research schedule which allows them to work towards the achievement of the learning outcomes;
• be able to produce a critical analysis of some of the key issues raised on the basis of the multiplicity of sources studied during their independent research.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module is taught on the basis of 13 one-hour lectures and 12 one-hour seminars, to allow the coverage of a range of specific topics.
• The lectures provide appropriate historical and institutional context, and introduce students to policy-making and policy strategy in the EU in defined topic areas.
• In the tutorials students will have to opportunity to discuss the issues raised in the lectures, based on a wide variety of primary and secondary sources.
• The students will be asked to analyse at least two texts for each tutorial. Collective discussion will allow students to raise essential issues and questions and guide them towards further reading and research.
• This method of teaching is aimed at helping students to develop their ability to embark on a critical analysis of major issues, based on substantial independent research and to able to explain them in collective seminar discussions and final assessment.
• Formative assessment is by an essay of 2,000 words based on one of the seminar topics enabling students to enhance their skills at text-based analysis.
• Summative assessment by a two-hour examination allows students to demonstrate acquisition of knowledge and analytical capacity over the range of the module and to show the ability to organise recalled material under pressure of time.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

1 essay 2,000 words maximum

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University