POLI 451 The European Union
POLI 451 The European Union
Instructor: Vincent Post
Email: vincent.post@mail.mcgill.ca
Lectures: Tuesday, Thursday, 2:35 PM – 3:55 PM
MacDonald Engineering Building, room 280
Office hours: Monday and Thursday, 11AM-noon,
Leacock 318
Introduction
Over the past decade, discerning followers of news about the European Union have been introduced to curious
new concepts such as monetary hair-cuts, Spitzenkandidaten, #grexit, #brexit, the Euro-group, and other EUspeak that has the potential to raise questions, if not eyebrows. The EU is a powerful political actor across
Europe, as well as an economic powerhouse whose financial situation affects economies world-wide. As a
political organization, it is sui generis, of its own sort: no organization like it exists in the world. This fascinating
uniqueness is combined with an institutional design that is, frankly, confusing. For instance, there are now two
individuals that lay claim to the title of President of the EU (the President of the European Council and the
President of the European Commission).
This course offers students a chance to be introduced to the European Union. The course consists of roughly
two parts. In the first part, you will be introduced to some of the EU’s history, along with an overview of the
current institutional set-up of the European Union. In addition, we will cover the key theoretical concepts that
political scientists have developed to better understand the EU. In the second part, we will apply the knowledge
from the first part to a number of current debates about concrete EU policies: the monetary crisis including
the Greek crisis of 2015, the enlargement of the EU, the EU as a political issue in the politics of the individual
member states (with special attention to the upcoming UK referendum on EU membership) and EU foreign
policy (with special attention to the on-going conflict in Ukraine).
Evaluation
Your knowledge of the EU will be tested in a number of different ways. A short paper will be due early in the
course. A midterm exam will take place on 13 October (a Tuesday). In addition, you will be working in small
groups (about 3 persons) to create an infographic, visualizing data to present a certain facet of the EU to a
broader audience. These three elements are all worth 20 per cent of your final grade; the remainder of your
grade is made up of the final exam and conference participation (both 20 per cent).
Paper (20 %)
In comparative politics, a distinction is made between presidential and parliamentary systems. In no more than
1000 words, apply this distinction to the EU, explaining why the political system of the EU is more like one or
more like the other, or why it isn’t like either of them. This paper is due on Monday 5 October (11:59 PM) –
late papers will not be accepted. Keep an eye on MyCourses for further details including some helpful writing
tips.
Midterm (20 %)
A short in-class mid-term exam (Tuesday 13 October) will be administered to test your grasp of the basics:
the history of the EU, the institutional set-up of the EU, and core analytical perspectives that explain the EU.
This mid-term will consist largely if not exclusively of multiple choice questions.
Infographic (20 %)
For this assignment, you will be working in a small group of 3 people to research a topic related to the EU and
present your finding in the form of an infographic. Infographics are all about telling a story with numbers and
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POLI 451 The European Union
pictures: they present data in an easily digestible and visually appealing manner in order to simplify complicated
issues for a broader audience. Possible topics include: (1) The enlargement of the European Union; (2) The
EMU and the Monetary Crisis; (3) The EU and Migration; (4) Treaty Reform; (5) Elections to European
Parliament. You will form groups and pick a topic by Friday 23 October. Together, you will submit a brief
plain text draft (250 words) on Friday 13 November; your final infographic assignment is due on Friday 4
December (all deadlines: 11:59 PM). Further details will be published on MyCourses.
Conference Participation (20 %)
Twenty per cent of the final grade will be based on conference participation. Participation is not the same as
being a know-it-all: asking for clarification about that one thing that all the other students are silently clueless
about is just as important as displaying your analytical insights. Note that attendance is a necessary but not a
sufficient component of participation. Just showing up and never contributing will not result in a high
participation grade.
Final Exam (20 %)
A cumulative final exam will test your ability to integrate a theoretical understanding of the EU with practical
knowledge of the day-to-day workings of the EU. For the final, you will be writing a number of short essays.
The date for the final exam will be set by the university.
Readings
We will be using the following textbook:
Simon Hix and Bjørn Høyland (2011) The Political System of the European Union, 3rd Edition, Houndmills,
Basingstoke/New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN: 9780230249820
This book will be available for purchase at the McGill Bookstore (3420 McTavish Street), but you may also be
interested in downloading a cheaper pdf version (www.coursesmart.com).
In addition, relevant political science research on the EU will be assigned. These readings can be accessed at
no cost through the library network: go to mcgill.worldcat.org and search for the articles (it will ask you to login
if you are off-campus). Hyperlinks are also included below and will appear on MyCourses (again, off-campus
login necessary).
To keep up with the current events, I would encourage you to develop a habit of reading some of the following
outlets:








The Guardian www.theguardian.com
The EU Observer www.euobserver.com
EU Votewatch http://www.votewatch.eu/
EurActiv http://www.euractiv.com/
BBC News http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Spiegel Online http://www.spiegel.de
Le Monde http://www.lemonde.fr
The Economist http://www.economist.com
In addition, it can be useful and fun to follow some EU leaders on twitter. For instance, you can follow Donald
Tusk (President of the Council) or Jean-Claude Juncker (President of the Commission). Or you can follow
Simon Hix, who wrote the textbook for this course. There are also more than 700 Members of European
Parliament, many of whom tweet vociferously. The hashtag for this course is #poli451.
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POLI 451 The European Union
Conferences
Conferences, led by Arina Voytenko (arina.voytenko[at]mail.mcgill.ca), will start during the fourth week of
classes (on Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 September). Please sign up for a conference on Minerva.
Conferences will be held in the Redpath Museum, room 200. Time slots are available on Wednesday (10:3011:30 and 11:30-12:30) and Thursday (10:30-11:30 and 11:30-12:30). Attendance is encouraged but not
compulsory.
Office Hours
Office hours are on Mondays and Thursdays between 11AM and noon, in Leacock 318. For almost all queries,
however, a quick email will be the fastest way to getting the answer you’re looking for. During peak times in
the semester, extra office hours will be held by Arina Voytenko, your TA (stay posted for details on when and
where). Other than that, she will not be holding office hours, but you can still email her with any questions that
you might have.
MyCourses
MyCourses is the authoritative source of all information concerning this course, including your grades. On
MyCourses, I will be posting this syllabus, links to readings, and the slides used during lectures. Lastly, I'll be
using MyCourses to post links to news stories that are relevant to this course. Make sure you check in on a
regular basis for updates and announcements.
Laptops and Tablets
Electronic devices are a great tool for students, but in the classroom they can be distracting and disruptive to
yourself, fellow students, and the lecturer. Moreover, when you're forced to take more succinct notes with pen
and paper, you end up absorbing more information! Check out this article in The Atlantic, for instance. For these
reasons, I would like to ask you to keep laptops and tablets put away during the lectures and bring pen and
paper for the purposes of taking notes. To help you keep track of the lectures, I will make power point
presentations available on MyCourses. Of course, if taking hand-written notes is not an option for you, let me
know and I'll make an exception.
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POLI 451 The European Union
Lectures and Readings
Part 1: History, Institutions, and Approaches
Introduction
Tuesday 8 September
 H&H, Chapter 1
History of the European Union
Thursday 10 September
 ‘History of the EU’, as presented on the website of the European Union, available at:
http://europa.eu/about-eu/eu-history/index_en.htm
 ‘The Schuman Declaration’, website of the European Union, available at: http://europa.eu/abouteu/basic-information/symbols/europe-day/schuman-declaration/index_en.htm
 Spaak, Paul-Henri (1963) ‘Hold Fast’, Foreign Affairs, 41:4, pp. 611-620
Tuesday 15 September
 ‘Solemn Declaration on the European Union (Stuttgart Declaration)’, available from the Archive of
European
Integration
at
the
University
of
Pittsburgh
at:
http://aei.pitt.edu/1788/1/stuttgart_declaration_1983.pdf
 1985 European Commission White Paper ‘Completing the Internal Market’, COM(85) 310 available
from the Archive of European Integration at the University of Pittsburgh at:
http://aei.pitt.edu/1113/1/internal_market_wp_COM_85_310.pdf
 1995 European Commission White Paper ‘Preparation of the Associated Countries of Central And
Eastern Europe for Integration into the Internal Market of the Union’, COM(95) 163 available from the
Archive
of
European
Integration
at
the
University
of
Pittsburgh
at:
http://aei.pitt.edu/1120/1/east_enlarg_wp_COM_95_163.pdf
EU Institutions
Thursday 17 September
 H&H, Chapter 2
 Franchino, Fabio (2004) ‘Delegating Powers in the European Community’, British Journal of Political
Science, 34:2, pp. 269-293
Tuesday 22 September,
 H&H, Chapter 3
 Hix, Simon and Abdul Noury, (2009) ‘After Enlargement: Voting Patterns in the Sixth European
Parliament’, Legislative Studies Quarterly, 34:2, pp. 159-174
Conferences start during this week
Thursday 24 September
 Hobolt, Sara (2014) ‘A Vote for the President? The Role of Spitzenkandidaten in the 2014 European
Parliament Elections’, Journal of European Public Policy, 21:10 pp. 1528-1540
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POLI 451 The European Union
Tuesday 29 September
 H&H, Chapter 4
 Alter, Karen (1998), ‘Who are the “Masters of the Treaty”?’ International Organization, 52:1 pp. 121-147
Theories of European Integration
Thursday 1 October
 Stone-Sweet, Alec & Wayne Sandholtz (1997) ‘European Integration and Supranational Governance’,
Journal of European Public Policy, 4:3, pp. 297-317
 Moravcsik, Andrew (1995) ‘Liberal Intergovernmentalism and Integration: A Rejoinder’, Journal of
Common Market Studies, 33:4, 611-628
The short paper is due on Monday 5 October
Tuesday 6 October, Thursday 8 October
 Pierson, Paul (1996) ‘The Path to European Integration. A Historical Institutionalist Analysis’,
Comparative Political Studies, 29:2, pp. 123-163
 Risse-Kappen, Thomas (1996) ‘Exploring the Nature of the Beast: International Relations Theory and
Comparative Policy Analysis Meet the European Union’, Journal of Common Market Studies, 34:1, pp. 5380
Midterm
Tuesday 13 October
 In-Class Midterm
No conferences will be held during this week.
Part 2: Current Debates
Please note: during this phase of the course, we will try to analyze and address a constantly changing political
situation. In order to stay up to date, recent readings may be added on short notice. In this event, you will be
notified through MyCourses.
Monetary Union and the Eurocrisis
Thursday 15 October
 Guest lecture by Prof. Juliet Johnson
 Streeck, Wolfgang (2011) ‘The Crises of Democratic Capitalism’, New Left Review, 71, pp. 5-29
 De Grauwe, Paul (1996) ‘Monetary Union and Convergence Economics’, European Economic Review,
40:3-5, pp. 1091:1101
Tuesday 20 October
 H&H, Chapters 8 and 10
Thursday 22 October
 Vasilopoulou, Sofia, Daphne Halikiopoulou, and Theofanis Exadaktylos (2013) ‘Greece in Crisis:
Austerity, Populism and the Politics of Blame’, Journal of Common Market Studies, 52:2, 388-402
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POLI 451 The European Union
 Eichengreen, Barry (2012) ‘European Monetary Integration with Benefit of Hindsight’, Journal of
Common Market Studies, 50:1, 123-136
Register infographic groups and topics by Friday 23 October
The EU as a Domestic Political Issue
Tuesday 27 October
H&H, Chapters 5 and 6
Thursday 29 October
 Moravcsik, Andrew (2002) ‘In Defence of the ‘Democratic Deficit’: Reassessing Legitimacy in the
European Union’, Journal of Common Market Studies, 40:4, pp. 603-624
 Follesdal, Andreas & Simon Hix (2006) ‘Why There is a Democratic Deficit in the EU. A Response to
Majone and Moravcsik’, Journal of Common Market Studies, 44:3, pp. 533-562
Tuesday 3 November
 Atikcan, Ece Özlem (2015) ‘The Puzzle of Double Referendums in the European Union’, Journal of
Common Market Studies, 53:5, pp. 937-956
 Brack, Nathalie and Nicholas Startin (2015) ‘Euroscepticism, from the Margins to the Mainstream’,
International Political Science Review, 36:3, pp. 239-249
EU Enlargement
Thursday 5 November, Tuesday 10 November
 Moravcsik, Andrew and Milada Anna Vachudova (2002) ‘National Interests, State Power, and EU
Enlargement’ Perspectives, 10:2, pp. 21-31
 Lavenex, Sandra and Frank Schimmelfennig (2009) ‘EU Rules beyond EU Borders’, Journal of European
Public Policy, 16:6, pp. 791-812
Thursday 12 November
 Bánkuti, Miklós, Gábor Halmai, and Kim Lane Scheppele (2012) ‘Disabling the Constitution’, Journal
of Democracy, 23:3, pp. 138-146
 Levitz, Philip and Grigore Pop-Eleches (2010) ‘Why No Backsliding?’, Comparative Political Studies, 43:4,
pp. 457-485
Draft infographic due on Friday 13 November
Migration
Tuersday 17 November, Thursday 19 November
 H&H, Chapter 11
 Czaika, Mathias (2009) ‘Asylum Cooperation among Asymmetric Countries’, European Union Politics,
10:1, 89-113
 Favell, Adrian & Randall Hansen (2002) ‘Markets against Politics’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies,
28:4, pp. 581-601
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POLI 451 The European Union
EU Foreign Policy, with Special Attention to the Conflict in Ukraine
Tuesday 24 November
 H&H, Chapter 12
 Smith, Karen (2005) ‘The Outsiders’, International Affairs, 81:4, pp. 757-773
Thursday 26 November, Tuesday 1 December
 Youngs, Richard (2009) ‘A Door Neither Closed Nor Open’, International Politics, 46: 4, pp. 358-375
 Anderson, Perry (2015) ‘Incommensurate Russia’, New Left Review, 94, pp. 5-43
Conclusion: Future of the EU?
Thursday 3 December
 H&H, Chapter 13
Infographic assignment due on Friday 4 December
The Fine Print
In accord with McGill University’s Charter of Students’ Rights, students in this course have the right to submit
in English or in French any written work that is to be graded.
McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore, all students must understand the meaning and
consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Code of Student Conduct and
Disciplinary Procedures (see www.mcgill.ca/students/srr/honest/ for more information).
En conformité avec la Charte des droits des étudiants de l’université McGill, les étudiants dans ce cours ont le
droit de remettre en anglais ou en français tout travail écrit qui est sujet à évaluation.
L’université McGill attache une haute importance à l’honnêteté académique. Il incombe par conséquent à tous
les étudiants de comprendre ce que l’on entend par tricherie, plagiat et autres infractions académiques, ainsi que
les conséquences que peuvent avoir de telles actions, selon le Code de conduite de l’étudiant et des procédures
disciplinaires
(pour
de
plus
amples
renseignements,
veuillez
consulter
le
site
www.mcgill.ca/students/srr/honest/).
The instructor of this course reserves the right to make changes to this course as presented in this syllabus if
circumstances necessitate doing so. Any changes will be communicated in a timely fashion through the
MyCourses system to students that are enrolled in this course.
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