POL30350 Politics and Policy of the EU

Academic Year 2017/2018

In a referendum held on the 23rd June 2016, the United Kingdom became the first country in history to announce an intention to withdraw from the European Union. As an international organisation that has been developing for over fifty years, this new political landscape means that detailed knowledge of how the EU works, it's powers, it's successes and it's failings, is more important than ever.

This course aims to equip students with a core understanding of the EU. It surveys the development of European policy making and introduces students to the EU’s political system and the day-to-day politics of EU policy making. We will discuss theories of European policy making and examine major challenges that the EU faces at the beginning of the 21st century. The course is research lead, in that it focuses upon the political science literature that seeks to explain various aspects of European politics and policy making. This is reflected in the extensive reading list provided with the course.

The course is aimed at those wanting a full and detailed introduction to (1) the political institutions of the EU, (2) its policy-making processes, and (3) current and future challenges facing the EU as a political system. The course does not assume any prior knowledge of the EU or EU politics.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this course students will be able to:
- Explain how the three main legislative institutions of the EU function together and produce policy.
- Analyse European policy making using different theoretical approaches.
- Discuss different EU policy areas and the manner in which the EU functions in these areas.
- Explain key concepts about EU policy making to others both verbally and in writing.
- Discuss the current and future challenges facing the EU in light of the theories discussed throughout the course.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

22

Autonomous Student Learning

79

Total

101

 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.



 
Description % of Final Grade Timing
Examination: End of year exam

80

2 hour End of Trimester Exam
Essay: Blog post assignment

20

Unspecified

Compensation

This module is not passable by compensation

Resit Opportunities

End of Semester Exam

Remediation

If you fail this module and the module is on offer the following semester, you must repeat the module. You should register for repeating the module at the start of the following semester. If the module is NOT running in the following semester then there will be a 2 hour resit exam available at the end of the following semester. You should register for this resit exam at the start of the next semester.