New York University
Faculty of Arts and Science
Center for European and Mediterranean Studies
Max Weber Chair for German and European Studies
Christine Landfried
EURO-UA 190 “The Role of Experts in the European Union”
Thursdays 10:00 – 12:00 p.m.
Working Syllabus
Democratic governance needs the knowledge of experts. And yet, there is a tension between
democracy and expertise. Democracy is based on the idea that free citizens have the equal
right to vote and the equal right to shape public opinion and thereby to influence governance.
Expertise in contrast is knowledge that relies on disciplinary practices and builds upon
scientific theories, methods, experiments and empirical research. It is argued that especially in
the European Union the power of experts is too big and contributes to a growing distance
between elites and citizens. The agreement of July 13, 2015 on the conditions under which
negotiations can be started about a new financial help for Greece is just the latest example for
the influence of experts.
In the first part of the seminar we shall discuss theoretical concepts for analyzing the role of
science and expertise in democracies. In the second and third parts of the seminar we shall
research the role of experts in the European Union. Is there empirical evidence for the critique
that experts are too influential in European politics and policies? The examples we shall
examine are the management of the Eurozone crisis and environmental policy. In the fourth
part of the seminar we shall investigate proposals for adequately dealing with the irresolvable
tension between democracy and expertise in the European Union.
Requirements and Grading: The seminar is offered for 4 units of credit. Grades will be based
upon class participation, one short paper (5-6 pages) presenting
texts assigned in the readings and a final research paper
(15-20 pages).
Due dates:
Short paper: October 1, 2015.
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Research paper: December 10, 2015.
1. September 3: Introduction
Introduction to the topic, the organization and the goals of the seminar. Students will
be informed about which readings are essential in preparation for the class and which
texts are suggested as additional readings.
Part I. Theoretical Concepts
2. September 10: The Interpretation of Technology and Science as “Ideology”
Jürgen Habermas, The Lure of Technocracy, Cambridge: Polity 2015, Part I and Part
II, 3-60.
Id., Technology and Science as “Ideology”. In: Id., Toward a Rational
Society. Student Protest, Science, and Politics, Boston: Beacon Press 1970, 81-127.
Agnes Heller, The Logic of Technology – Science as the Dominating World View of
Modernity. In: ead., A Theory of Modernity, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers
1999, 64-79.
3. September 17: Concepts of Democracy
Jean L.Cohen, Andrew Arato, Civil Society and Political Theory, Cambridge: MIT
Press 1992, 564-604.
Robert A. Dahl, Democracy and its Critics, New Haven, London: Yale University
Press 1989.
Steven Lukes, Power. A Radical View, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2nd ed. 2005,
Chapters 1 and 2, 14-107.
4. September 24: Democracy and Expertise
Hannah Arendt, Truth and Politics., In: Ead., Between Past and Future. Eight
Exercises in Political Thought, New York: Penguin Books, 223-259.
Renate Mayntz, Academics and Policy Analysis: Tension Between Epistemic and
Practical Concerns. In: Sonja Blum, Klaus Schubert (eds.), Policy Analysis in
Germany, Bristol: Policy Press 2013, 279-285.
Robert C. Post, Democracy, Expertise, Academic Freedom. A First Amendment
Jurisprudence for the Modern State, New Haven and London: Yale University Press
2012, Chapters 1, 2 and 3, 1-99.
Part II. Case-Study: The Eurozone Crisis
5. October 1: The Development of the Eurozone Crisis
Bruce Ackerman, Germany’s Failure of Vision. In: New York Times, July 9, 2015,
A 27.
Barry Eichengreen, European Monetary Crisis with Benefit of Hindsight. In: Journal
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of Common Market Studies 50(2012), 123-136.
Id., European Monetary Unification. In: Journal of Economic
Literature 31 (1993), 1321-1357.
Dernot Hodson, Policy-Making under Economic and Monetary Union. In: Helen
Wallace et al. (eds.), Policy-Making in the European Union, Oxford: Oxford
University Press 7th ed. 2015, 166-195.
6. October 8: The Influence of Economic Theories and Economic Institutions
Irene Finel-Honigman, Fernando Sotelino, International Banking for a New Century,
London: Routledge 2015, Chapter 5.
International Monetary Fund, IMF Country Report no. 15/165, Greece. Preliminary
Draft Debt Sustainability Analysis, June 26, 2015.
John Maynard Keynes, Essays in Persuasion, New York, London: W.W.Norton &
Company 1931.
Paul Krugman, End This Depression Now! New York, London: W.W.Norton &
Company 2012.
Id., New York Times, Opinion Pages, History Lessons for Euro Debtors, July 15,
2015.
Robert Shiller, Finance and the Good Society, Princeton: Princeton University Press
2012.
7. October 15: The Influence of European Institutions
Christine Landfried, Never-Ending Crisis? Germany and the Future of Europe. In:
Christiane Lemke (ed.), Germany in Europe: Powerhouse at the Crossroads,
Working Paper of the Center for European and Mediterranean Studies, New York
University 2013, 92-103.
Renate Mayntz (ed.), Institutional Change in the Regulation of Financial Markets:
Questions and Answers. In: Ead.(ed.), Crisis and Control. Institutional Change in
Financial Market Regulation, Frankfurt, New York: Campus 2012, 7-27.
Helen Wallace, Christine Reh, An Institutional Anatomy and Five Policy Modes. In:
Helen Wallace et al. (eds.), Policy-Making in the European Union, Oxford: Oxford
University Press 7th ed. 2015, 72-112.
8. October 22: The Expertise of Civil Society
Simon Hix, Bjorn Hoyland, The Political System of the European Union, New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, 3rd ed. 2011, 159-186.
Alex Warleigh, “Europeanizing” Civil Society: NGOs as Agents of Political
Socialization. In: Journal of Common Market Studies 39 (2001), 619-639.
Part III. Case-Study: Environmental Policy
9. October 29: The Development of Environmental Policy in the European Union
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Andrew Jordan (ed.), Camilla Adelle, Environmental Policy in the European Union:
Actors, Institutions and Processes, New York: Routledge 3rd ed. 2013.
Andrea Lenschow, Environmental Policy: Contending Dynamics of Policy Change
In: Helen Wallace et al. (eds.), Policy-Making in the European Union, Oxford:
Oxford University Press 7th ed. 2015, 319-343.
10. November 5:
The Influence of Science and Environmental Institutions
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Climate Change 2014. Synthesis
Report, Geneva 2015.
Jeffrey D. Sachs, The Age of Sustainable Development, New York: Columbia
University Press 2015.
11. November 12: The Influence of European Institutions
Ingmar von Homeyer, Emerging Experimentalism in EU Environmental Governance.
In: Charles F. Sabel, Jonathan Zeitlin (eds.), Experimentalist Governance in the
European Union, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2010, 121-150.
Christoph Knill, Duncan Liefferink (eds.), Environmental Politics in the European
Union: Policy-Making, Implementation and Patterns of Multi-Level Governance,
Manchester: Manchester University Press 2007.
Giandomenico Majone, The New European Agencies: Regulation by Information. In:
Journal of European Public Policy 4 (1997), 262-275.
12. November 19: The Expertise of Civil Society
Tony Long, Larisa Lörinczi, NGOs as Gatekeepers: A Green Vision. In: David Coen,
Jeremy Richardson (eds.), Lobbying the European Union: Institutions, Actors, and
Issues, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2009, 169-185.
Part IV. Reconciling the Role of Scientific Expertise and Democratic Governance
13. December 3: The Potential of Public Opinion
Nancy Fraser, Scales of Justice. Reimagining Political Space in a Globalizing World,
New York: Columbia University Press 2010, Chapters 5 and 8, 76-99, 131-141.
Anthony Giddens, Turbulent and Mighty Continent. What Future for Europe?
Cambridge, Malden: Polity 2014, Chapter 1, 18-55.
Michael Warner, Publics and Counterpublics, New York: Zone Books 2002.
14. December 10: New Forms of Democratic Governance
Miguel Poires Maduro, A New Governance for the European Union and the Euro:
Democracy and Justice, RSCAS Policy Paper, Florence 2012/11.
Charles F. Sabel, Jonathan Zeitlin (eds.), Experimentalist Governance in the European
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Union. Towards a New Architecture, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2010, 1-28.
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