Seminar Democracy in the European Union Mi 8.30-10.00

Course Outline: Topic and Goals of the Seminar Europe is considered the -cradle of democracy”. But what is -democracy” exactly? How does it take shape in political reality? And how does a newly forming polity, like the European Union (EU), meet the credentials of democratic rule? Against the background of these questions, this seminar is structured in four parts. First, we will explore definitions of democracy, the scope and pitfalls of democratic governance, and how democracy can in practice meet the theoretical assumptions. The aim of this part is to develop basic categories of democratic rule that are necessary to speak about democratic rule in a meaningful sense. Second and third, we will turn to the EU and how democracy is exercised in this multilevel system. On the one hand, the spot light will be put on the EU’s alleged -democratic deficit” in order to critically establish your own, analytically founded diagnosis of the specific strengths and pitfalls of EU democracy. On the other hand, we will discuss approaches to democratise the EU. On the basis of the conceptual and general debate of democracy in the EU, we will, fourth, turn to current affairs. Since the wake of the economic and fiscal crisis, many national governments have fallen and the debate about whether decision making on the EU-level is at all legitimate is gaining prominence. Taking up these current affairs, we will return to the key questions of the course: democracy in the European Union. Course Objectives and Teaching Approach At the end of the term, you should be familiar with the basic characteristics of democratic governance, the specificities for democracy in the EU, and be able to critically scrutinise democratic governance in multilevel political systems. In addition, the course should serve as room to train research relevant skills, in particular presenting an academic argument and drafting an analytical paper. To this end, the sessions in the first three parts will be structured by two readings that present opposed views on the topic of the session. You have to prepare one of the readings in more detail and present its content briefly (10 minutes, only!) for one of the sessions. The forth part, discussing current affairs, is reserved for your exclusive inputs. You are expected to prepare (one of) these sessions from materials collected in the media and academic outlets and anchor these in the seminars’ context. Sessions 11-13 will accordingly be interactive debates based on the inputs developed in teams. European Studies (Master, PO 2013) Course Requirements and Grading All participants need to participate actively in the course and present one of the readings in one of the sessions (precise details will be discussed in class. In addition, you need to prepare one of the sessions on current affairs doing your own research and analysis. Besides these minimum requirements for participation credits (BN), the examination requirements (AP) are the following: • Master -European Studies- You have the option to do your final oral examination for the module -governance- in this course. Registration with the examination office (-Prüfungsamt”) is required. • Master -Sozialwissenschaften- and Master -Politische Kommunikation- You can do a final examination either as oral examination or as written examination. Registration with the examination office (-Prüfungsamt”) is required. • International students (ERASMUS) You can do a final examination either as oral examination or as written examination. Registration with the examination office is not required for you. Oral Exams: ca. 20 minutes, Written Exams: term paper of maximal 6000 words (bibliography included). Active Participation includes the short introduction of one of the core readings (mini-presentation) and the preparation and presentation of a self-researched and -prepared argument (group presentation). The presentations of the readings are purely a smarmy of the main arguments and should not exceed 10 minutes. A short outline of this mini-presentation is to be handed in a week before. Sessions 12-14 are reserved for the group presentations. We will divide the class into three groups. With your team, you will decide on a concrete question you aim to answer, explore literature and prepare the respective session. The seminar readings and extra literature will offer a broad basis for the presentations. You are expected to hand in an outline a week before presenting – and if any questions: ask the professor. Also for these presentations, outlines are to be handed in a week in advance. Universität Düsseldorf WiSe 2015/16 Jun.-Prof. Dr. Heidbreder Eva Jun