In 1945, Europe emerged from WWII in complete devastation. Sixty
years later, 25 European countries are bound together in the
European Union. They share economic and monetary policy,
agricultural and environmental policy, asylum guidelines, and
countless other policy areas traditionally controlled by national
governments. In this course, we will examine the following
questions: What drives European integration? What explains the
complex institutional structures that we find in the EU? Are there
comparable cases of regional integration elsewhere in the world? Why
does European integration evolve more easily in some policy areas
than others? What is the role of law in integration? What does
European integration mean for democracy? How does it affect the US?

The course proceeds in three parts: 1) history and theories of
integration; 2) EU institutions; and 3) EU policies. Policies to be
covered include: the single market, economic and monetary union,
agriculture, environment, enlargement, security, and justice and
home affairs.

Students enrolled in this course must be prepared to 1) complete a
group project (consisting of an analysis of EU newspaper coverage in
different countries); and 2) read legal, political, and economic
texts. While neither a political science nor an economics background
is a prerequisite for this course, students must be willing to
engage arguments from both of these fields.