COEN D. & KATSAITIS A. - Interest Representation in the EU (30h)

Professor Alexander KATSAITIS and David COEN

Civil society organisations advocating for a wide variety of producer and citizen interests play a highly institutionalised role in the EU political system.

The course will therefore evaluate:

  • why the EU has become inter-dependent with organised civil society interests, and the consequences for different kinds of legitimacy;
  • the extent to which the EU interest representation system is unique, or shares features to be found in other political systems.
  • the ways in which the properties of the EU political system, and the architecture of EU decision making, structures the character of EU interest representation;
  • the instruments through which EU institutions structure their dialogue with outside stakeholders, and their impact on legitimacy;
  • the impact which organised interests have upon policy-making outcomes, and whether one type of interest can routinely dominate in the EU’s multi-governance system;
  • the use made of interest organisations by EU political institutions to achieve their goals;
  • the factors explaining the mobilisation and political behaviour of different interest constituencies, organised interests, and social movements.

ECTS Card

Academic year
2022 - 2023
Semester
Second semester
Course type
Optional courses
ECTS Points
5.00