According to the literature on democracy, interest groups are defined as important channels of societal representation and key actors for effective problem-solving and the implementation of legislation. Moving from these premises, the course aims to analyze the role of interest groups' activities across institutional branches and policy-making stages in national and international/supranational settings.
Please pay attention to attendance requirements and variations due to the difference between attending and non attending students.
a) Bibliography for attending students (presence during online classes + seminar-based activities, see evaluation procedures)*
Mandatory readings (all available in the library)
1. Greenwood, J (2017) (4th edtn.) Interest Representation in the European Union Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
2. Sandra Kröger (2016), Europeanised or European? Representation by Civil Society Organisations in EU Policy-Making, ECPR Press.
* Suggestions for additional reading and online resources will be provided during the course
b) Bibliography for Non-Attending Students
Mandatory readings (all available in the library or online through your university account)
1. Greenwood, J (2017) (4th edtn.) Interest Representation in the European Union (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
2. Sandra Kröger (2016), Europeanised or European? Representation by Civil Society Organisations in EU Policy-Making, ECPR Press.
3. Hanegraaff, Marcel (2019), Whose Side are You on? Explaining the Extent to Which National Interest Groups Support States in Global Politics, JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 57(3), 563-579, 2019
4. Rainer Eising, Daniel Rasch & Patrycja Rozbicka (2017) National interest organisations in EU policy-making, West European Politics, 40:5, 939-956
Obiettivi Formativi
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- distinguish the different types of interest groups, their organization and features of their collective action
- explain the contributions of interest groups at different stages of the policy-making cycle
- illustrate the distinctiveness of lobbying in the EU policy process
- critically review and evaluate contemporary studies about national and supranational decision-making, with a special focus on the strategies of lobbying actors
- present concisely academic theories and arguments both in writing and orally.
Prerequisiti
• Good writing and communication skills in English
• Sound knowledge of EU policy-making and EU policies.
• Sound knowledge of Political Science and Comparative Politics (BA Courses)
Metodi Didattici
The course consists of lectures and seminars. There will be three lectures per week.
Active students are required two in-class presentations on readings/podcasts provided by the instructor and a short ppt presentation (5 slides) of their research topic to be developed into a full paper. This in-class activity will count for up to 50% of the final grade. The paper at home (see below for details) counts for the remaining 50% of the final grade.
Altre Informazioni
N.A.
Modalità di verifica apprendimento
Target: NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS
Evaluation in two steps
Step 1: One minimum 5000-maximum 6000-word paper (including references, tables, etc.) Evaluation: up to 30 points.
Rules for the submission of the paper:
The topic of the paper should be agreed with the instructor. The paper is due 10 days before the date of the exam in electronic format. Penalties for late submission (applicable to all students): 1 point for every working day after the deadline. Papers submitted more than 5 working days late will not be assessed. If your paper does not respect word limits, points will be deducted. Note that the paper is supposed to comply with the basic requirements of an academic research paper: clear identification of a research question or thesis that the student seeks to support through the use of both primary and secondary sources. Moreover, each paper is expected to provide a critical assessment of the literature (evaluation of the arguments provided, biases, points of contention). It is expected to mention at least 5 scientific sources.
Students are strongly invited to contact and seek advice from the instructor before and during the preparation of the paper.
Step 2: Oral exam based on 3 open questions based on the above mentioned bibliography. Submission of the paper (step 1) is a mandatory condition to the oral exam. The submission deadline is 10 days before the date of the written exam.
Evaluation: up to 30 points.
Final evaluation: average Step 1 + Step 2
(up to 30 points + up to 30 points)/2
Cum laude to be awarded for outstanding writing skills and/or argumentation during the oral exam.
Target: ATTENDING STUDENTS
Multi-steps evaluation
Participation (at least 75%) to in-class activities + in-class activities (see below)
In class activities to be evaluated
1 critical analysis based on one of the 4 podcasts discussed during the seminar activities
1 critical analysis based on one of the articles indicated as basis for the seminars (to be provided at the beginning of the course).
Technical details: maximum 2500 words each, bibliography included.
Evaluation: up to 10 points (up to 5 points each)
1 powerpoint presentation and Q&A session (15-20 minutes) on a IGs dossier (identification of the context, actors, institutional entry points, strategies applied, output).
Evaluation: up to 15 points
Participation in class discussion & seminars -> up to 5 points
Tips to become a successful attending student
• Ask yourself these questions:
• Did I attend the online class?
• Was I adequately prepared to participate in the discussion/activity?
• Did I make contributions that added to everyone's understanding of the subject?
• Did I facilitate other people's participation?
• Did I take care not to dominate the discussion?
Total in class activities: 30 points (50% of the final evaluation)
Activity at home to be evaluated
1 maximum 5000-word paper (including references, tables, etc.) based on the powerpoint presentation. The submission deadline is 10 days before the official date of the exam. Specific details will be provided in the first part of the course after targeted training on academic writing.
The paper is due 10 days before the date of the exam in electronic format. Penalties for late submission (applicable to all students): 1 point for every working day after the deadline. Papers submitted more than 5 working days late will not be assessed. If your paper does not respect word limits, points will be deducted. Note that the paper is supposed to comply with the basic requirements of an academic research paper: clear identification of a research question or thesis that the student seeks to support through the use of both primary and secondary sources. Moreover, each paper is expected to provide a critical assessment of the literature (evaluation of the arguments provided, biases, points of contention). It is expected to mention at least 5 scientific sources.
Students are strongly invited to contact and seek advice from the instructor before and during the preparation of the paper.
Evaluation: up to 30 points (50% of the final evaluation)
Total evaluation : Average of Evaluation in class activities + paper at home home
(up to 30 points + up to 30 points)/2
Cum laude to be awarded for outstanding participation in class and/or writing skills.
Programma del corso
Introduction to academic writing
Introduction: concepts, methods
Interest groups and the theory of democracy
Interest groups: regulation and weaknesses
Interest groups in the USA (general features + case studies)
Eu policy-making: challenges and opportunities
EU interest representation
Case studies
Testimonials + crush workshop on lobbying in real life
Conclusions: Q&A, comment