This course focuses on why and how conflicts end, and the political, economic, and social challenges facing post-war societies. The course begins by discussing...

Conflict Resolution and Post-War Development (PUBL0046)

This course focuses on why and how conflicts end, and the political, economic, and social challenges facing post-war societies. The course begins by discussing the obstacles inherent in the war-to-peace transition and the determinants of conflict recurrence. The course addresses questions such as: Why do some peace settlements last, while others do not? How can outside actors help bring conflicts to an end? How can peacekeepers help keep peace? What is the role of humanitarian aid? What explains variation in the success of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programs? How does post-conflict reconstruction work, and how do conflict reconciliation programs affect the post-war peace? These are important policy questions, and the course aims to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the obstacles to peace, drawing on theoretical literatures, policy debates, and empirical case studies of conflict settings in different parts of the world.

European Union|theories of European integration|institutions|decision-making

*This is a compulsory module for students registered on the MSc European Politics and Policy programme and is not available as an optional module.

This module...

The European Union: Institutions and Politics (PUBL0043)

*This is a compulsory module for students registered on the MSc European Politics and Policy programme and is not available as an optional module.

This module introduces the European Union’s institutions, politics and decision-making, and discusses the key political challenges and questions faced by EU policy-makers today. Students will acquire the empirical knowledge, theoretical understanding and transferable skills necessary to analyse, explain and evaluate the EU’s institutions, politics and legitimacy.

Teaching on this module mixes lectures and seminars, and draws on learning methods such as small group discussions, simulation games, student presentations and applied research exercises.
The module is divided in three parts. The first block introduces the theoretical debate about the nature and development of European integration and the EU institutions. The second block analyses the EU as a political system from actors’ preference formation to decision-making. The third block focuses on questions concerning the EU’s legitimacy. Throughout, the module addresses current issues and challenges of European governance, which may include the euro crisis, enlargement, lobbying, public opinion, Brexit or compliance with EU law. In all sessions, students will learn to apply theories of Political Science to current political developments in the EU and its member states, and to empirical examples from the EU’s policy-process.

By the end of the module, students will have
• gained an in-depth knowledge of the EU’s institutions, politics and decision-making;
• learned to apply, test and evaluate theories of Comparative Politics and European integration;
• engaged with the conceptual and normative debate about the EU and its legitimacy;
• learned to critically assess empirical evidence and present theoretical arguments;
• trained transferable skills for the analytical study of politics and policy-making.