Syllabus date: February 8, 2016
COURSE TITLE: Comparative Public Policy: France & the European Union
COURSE DESCRIPTION: As in the US, European governance is modeled on
capitalism, rights, and democracy. European nations and the European Union, however,
approach these topics distinctly, both in contrast to the U.S. as well as from one another.
Model Europe – in comparative perspective and centered around the case study of France
– is the topic of this summer course.
Europe is facing the most serious threat to its consolidation since Maastricht, calling into
question the EU’s very existence. On a series of fronts – economically, politically, and
even ideologically – the longevity of the European model is being challenged. The
ongoing refugee crisis without a coherent EU response joins other EU crises, such as its
non-response to the rise of virulent nationalism in Hungary and elsewhere, and the
economic woes of member states such as Greece, Portugal & Spain. Meanwhile, terror
attacks in France have increased pressure on the French integration model, with wider
ramifications for the EU and its member states.
This course will explore these contemporary challenges across three seminal fields:
governance & citizenship policy, environmental policy, and business. Faculty experts and
guest lecturers will work closely with students to understand the contradictory
mechanisms at work in all three policy spheres, querying which political strategies are
best adapted for the successful future consolidation of Europe. The aim of the course is to
provide students with a sophisticated understanding of European policy modeling and
contemporary challenges to the European Union.
Requirements:
To secure course credit, students must write one final two-hour exam. The final exam will
count for 30% of the grade. Students will also be required to write two short essays of
1500 words each on selected topics in the course. Each essay will count for 15% of the
grade. Additionally, students must participate in an extracurricular “policy task force”
which will meet largely outside of class time. Students will turn in individual reports of
approximately 1,500 words and collectively present their policy findings in the last week
of class, which will together count for 30% of the grade. To succeed in these assignments,
students must complete the readings ahead of the lectures, and attend lectures on a regular
basis. Regular attendance thus counts for 10% of the grade.
Statement for Students with Disabilities:
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to
register with AUP's Student Affairs office at the beginning of the course.
The office is located on rue Colonel Combes and is open Monday – Friday 9 am to 5 pm.
Statement on Academic Integrity:
General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual
property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless
otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own
academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s
own. All students are expected to understand and abide by these principles. SCampus, the
Student Guidebook, (www.usc.edu/scampus or http://scampus.usc.edu) contains the
University Student Conduct Code (see University Governance, Section 11.00), while the
recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A.
BOOKS (for student purchase):
Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union
Dave Eggers, What is the What?
Articles & Chapters (materials to be provided by instructor):
J. H. H. Weiler, The Constitution of Europe: 'Do the New Clothes Have an Emperor?'
and Other Essays on European Integration (Cambridge University Press 1999)
Christian Joppke, Veil: Mirror of Identity (Polity Press 2009)
Erik Bleich, Chapter 4: France, in Case Studies in Comparative Politics (Peachpitt Press
2012)
Anne Orford, “Europe Reconstructed” 75 Modern Law Review 275-286 (2012)
Martin Chick, Electricity and Energy Policy in Britain, France and the United States
since 1945 Chapters 3 & 5 (Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd 2009)
Martin Marcussen and Jarle Trondal, “The OECD civil servant: Caught between Scylla
and Charybdis” Review of International Political Economy Vol. 18, No. 5
http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21601512-thomas-pikettys-blockbuster-bookgreat-piece-scholarship-poor-guide-policy?fsrc=explainsdig (December 2011)
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/1/12/1388043/-No-Charlie-Hebdo-is-not-racistHere-s-why
Film: La Journée de la Jupe; It’s Hard Being Loved by Jerks; Gasland;
Week 1: The Confederalization of Europe: governance through law, politics, &
economics
6 June
Introduction to European federalism
Lecture: Dr. Carlson
Reading: Weiler (1999) Chapter 2 (pp 10 – 100)
7 June
8 June
9 June
Week 2:
13 June
Afternoon: First task force meetings; following meetings TBA
Introduction to European federalism continued
Lecture: Dr. Carlson
Reading: Weiler (1999) Chapter 2 (pp 10 – 100)
Challenges to “Model Europe” in France
Lecture: Dr. Carlson
Reading: Bleich (2012) Chapter 4; The Economist on Thomas Pinketty
Cite Visit: Jean Monnet house
Comparative models of liberalism: human rights & governance
Lecture: Dr. Carlson
Reading: Joppke (2009) Chapters 1, 2 & 5 (pp 1-52; 107 -126)
14 June
Questioning the role of the state (comparative models of law and
governance)
Lecture: Dr. Carlson
Reading: Orford (2012)
15 June
France & The Veil
Guest Lecture: Dr. Susan Perry
Reading: “Against Nature” New Yorker 2011
16 June
Film: It’s Hard Being Loved by Jerks
Week 3: EU Citizenship: Refugees, Migrants, & Belonging
20 June
The Crisis of Charlie Hebdo
Lecture: Dr. Carlson
Reading: 3 2015 New York Review of Books articles on France by Mark
Lilla
First essay due
21 June
EU law of citizenship & the Refugee Crisis
Lecture: Dr. Carlson
Reading: What is the What by Dave Eggers
22 June
Cite visit : Immigration & diversity in France: the case of Roma?
Lecture: Manon Fillonneau, RomEurope
23 June
Cite visit : Ni Putes Ni Soumises
Week 4: Going Green European Style
27 June:
Energy as policy
Lecture: Dr. Carlson
Reading: Chick (2009) Chapters 3 & 5 (pp 34-56; 84-109)
28 June
French case: staying nuclear in France
Guest lecture: Michel Debes, EDF & Areva
29 June
Why fracking isn’t on the European agenda
Climate change & legislative responses
Preparation: Gasland (2010); An Inconvenient Truth
Film: Gasland II (2010)
30 June
Cite visit: Dual Sun
Week 5: Doing business in Europe
4 July
The European business model: legal & social models
Lecture: Dr. Carlson
Reading: Weiler (1999) Chapter 9 (pp 286 -323)
Second essay due
5 July
Cite visit: OECD
Reading: Marcussen & Trondal (2011)
6 July
Comparative corporate structures
Lecture: Professor Gail Hamilton,
7 July
Money matters: European Central Bank & Exit from the EU
Lecture: Dr. Carlson
Reading: TBA
Week 6: Wrapping up
13 July
Policy-making exercise: a common energy policy in the EU?
Lecture: Dr. Carlson
Reading: The Yiddish Policemen’s Union
14 July
Policy Task Force Presentations
15 July
Final Exam