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Democracy and legitimacy in the European Union

Vak
2018-2019

Description

Some critics of the European Union maintain that it suffers from a ‘democratic deficit’. But is this really so? What are the democratic foundations of the EU? We will examine different aspects, also in a historical perspective, of democracy and legitimacy in the EU. The enhanced role of the European Parliament in European decision making will be studied, as well as the increasing involvement of national parliaments. Are the innovations of the Lisbon Treaty in this regard successful? How do national parliaments in the various member states organize themselves in order to influence EU decisions? Should the Eurozone acquire its own, separate democratic underpinning? Which factors determine the level of legitimacy of EU policy makers? And what can the EU do when democracy and the rule of law in individual member states deteriorate?
We will also pay attention to the upcoming elections for the European Parliament. In that perspective we will address questions such as the role of the “Spitzenkandidaten” in the search of the EP to increase its legitimacy.

Course objectives

Students will acquire a thorough understanding of:

  • how democracy functions at a European level;

  • how different national parliaments try to influence EU decision making;

  • how the EU supervises democratic values in the member states.

course Load

Total course load for the course: 5 EC is 140 hours.

  • Hours spent on attending seminars (attendance is compulsory): 4 hours per week x 6 weeks = 24 hours

  • Time for studying the compulsory literature and preparation for the lectures: 6 hours per week x 6 = 36 hours

  • Preparation for the paper: 80 hours

Assessment method

  • Participation 20%

  • Presentation 20%

  • Paper 70%

Weighing

The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average.

Resit

Retake paper: resubmit three weeks after the grade has been made known. In order to be eligible for the retake paper, students have to have failed the course.

Exam review

How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.

Contact

Drs. T.J.A.M. de Bruijn