Dear Honors students,
The Political Science Department is offering a few different European-centered courses next semester. The courses are either new or have not been offered in a while. Feel free to reach out to the instructors, if you have any questions. Read the course descriptions below for more information!
POLS 202 Topics in Political Practice - British Politics
Overview of the political system of the United Kingdom (UK), including electoral system and political parties. Discussion of the UK's relationship with the European Union, and the ongoing Brexit process. With the UK scheduled to begin the process of leaving the European Union in March 2019, there is never a better time to take this class!
POLS 236 Politics of Eastern Europe Kostadinova
This class will provide a survey of the politics of postcommunist Eastern Europe, from the emergence of national states in the interwar period to their accession to the European Union. Just as the collapse of the region's communist regimes took social scientists by surprise in 1989, so too has the divergence of political and economic trajectories since. In some countries, democratic institutions were swiftly consolidated. In others, free elections produced "illiberal democracies." Likewise in the economic sphere, outcomes have varied widely: while some governments quickly managed difficult reforms and laid the conditions for growth, others faced extended economic stagnation. Finally, a number of the region's states have joined the European Union and NATO, a process that, arguably, has deepened democracy and cemented economic reforms even as it adds new complexity to the postcommunist transition. In short, the range of outcomes in postcommunist Europe makes the region an ideal laboratory for testing the explanatory power of major theories of comparative politics. Our survey of political and economic developments in this region will cover democratization and political participation; privatization and macroeconomic reform; nationalism and ethnic conflict; as well as regional integration. Though we will cover the whole region, the countries that will receive primary consideration are Poland, the former Czechoslovakia, Hungary, the former Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria and Romania.
POLS 342 European Union: Politics and Institutions Kostadinova
Out of the ashes of WWII was born one of the most daring experiments in political and economic cooperation in human history. Just 50 years after its establishment, the European Union (EU), an organization comprising of 28 member states (several more are in accession negotiations), has a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) exceeding that of the United States, and is the most generous donor of development assistance, in addition to being the most important economic, military and political partner of the United States. The first section of this course overviews the historical development of the EU, starting with cooperation in the coal and steel sectors and growing into a supra-national organization with several layers of institutional structures. We then proceed to discuss the functioning of the EU’s institutors, while paying attention to the theories explaining their existence. The last section looks at several examples of policy-making at the EU, focusing primarily on the economic and monetary union. This is an introductory course of the EU and no previous knowledge of this organization is assumed. Student having a solid background in western civilization and post-WWII European history will be better prepared for this course.
