EU Polity and Politics

2024/2025

Content, progress and pedagogy of the module

Objectives:  

  • To provide students with knowledge of EU institutions and decision-making procedures 

  • To enable students to understand the fundamental logics and elements of EU law 

  • To enable students to analyze and discuss the democratic dimensions of European integration  

Content: 

The module gives in-depth knowledge of the European Union (EU), what it is, how it works and how it relates to Member States and society. The module will focus on four aspects: 1) approaches to understanding the nature of the EU; 2) the development as well as the central content of EU law including the decision-making procedures; 3) the institutions of the EU, their tasks, organization, and the relations between the institutions, as well as between the institutions and the Member States; and 4) the democratic dimension of EU politics. The module also introduces digital platforms and tools providing knowledge about EU institutions and decision-making processes. 

Learning objectives

Knowledge

  • theories and practices within the fields of EU law, institutions and decision-making procedures 

  • democracy, legitimacy and Europeanization, as well as various approaches to the study of these.  

Skills

  • can identify and understand fundamental logics of EU law and EU institutions 

  • can reflect upon democratic dimensions of the European integration process  

  • can apply knowledge within the module’s subject areas to select theories that serve the analytical purpose and at the same time remain critical to these theories.   

Competences

  • can reflect and argue on the basis of scientific knowledge 

  • are able to apply theory to empirical data and analyze problem issues within the field of EU studies 

  • can communicate succinctly and precisely about key elements of EU law and EU institutions to a targeted audience 

  • can use digital tools to identify and analyze key elements of EU institutions and decision-making processes. 

Type of instruction

The module consists of lectures, seminars and exercises. 

Exam

Exams

Name of examEU Polity and Politics
Type of exam
Oral exam
The examination for EU Polity and Politics is an internally assessed individual oral examination. The examination will take the form of a conversation between the student and the examiners about a question posed within the syllabus of the module.
Duration of examination: 20 min, including grading and announcement of result.
ECTS10
AssessmentPassed/Not Passed
Type of gradingInternal examination
Criteria of assessmentThe criteria of assessment are stated in the Examination Policies and Procedures

Facts about the module

Danish titleEU Polity and Politics
Module code2022IR6
Module typeCourse
Duration1 semester
SemesterAutumn
ECTS10
Language of instructionEnglish
Location of the lectureCampus Aalborg
Responsible for the module

Organisation

Education ownerMaster of Science (MSc) in Social Sciences in International Relations
Study BoardStudy Board of Politics and Society
DepartmentDepartment of Politics and Society
FacultyFaculty of Social Sciences and Humanities