Italy in European politics and policy

Professor in charge: Elizaveta Matveeva

Programme: MA in International Relations

Semester: 2

Course aims & Learning outcomes

The main objective of this course is to provide students with comprehensive knowledge about changing character of relationship between the European Union and its member states, on the one hand, and understanding of complex mechanisms of interaction between the dynamics of domestic political processes and country’s performance within the EU institutions, on the other hand.

After successfully completing the course students will:

- be aware of the role thatItalyplayed in the process of European integration;

- understand the impact of domestic political sphere characteristics and its evolution on the country’s foreign and EU policies;

- be able to evaluate the impact of the European Union on member states’ political and public spheres;

- be able to critically analyse and discuss a broad range of Italian domestic political actors and public opinion views and perceptions of European integration;

- be able to provide a comprehensive assessment of country performance within the EU institutional framework.

Course description

     Part 1. Introduction to the course

The role of Italy in the European integration process.

Europeanism and atlantism in Italian foreign policy.

    Part 2. Multi-level governance system: subnational and national levels (the EU inItaly)

Evolution of Italian political system in 1946-2014: blocked democracy, partitocracy, crises and transition that never ends.

Europeanisation of Italian political sphere: Europe as a “stimulus” for development and reform.

Politicization of Europe in Italy: political elites and public opinion perceptions of European integration process.

   Part 3. Multi-level governance system: supranational level (Italyin the EU)

Italy’s performance within the EU institutions: European Council and Council of the EU, Italian presidencies, Italians in the European Commission, Italian MEPs.

Italian organized interests in Brussels. Italian regions in Brussels.

Teaching Methods

10 hours of lectures and 32 hours of weekly seminars organised as a discussion around issues indicated in the course description. Students are expected to participate actively in seminar discussions based on the reading materials.

Assessment

Class participation – 20%

Case study presentation (students are expected to present an analytic report on the performance of Italy (or officials, MEPs etc representing Italy within the EU institutions) – 40%

Final essay (5,000 word final essay based on case study results is expected to be submitted by the end of the course) – 40%

Reading List

Bindi F. Italy and the European Union, Brookings Institution Press and the Italian NationalSchool of Public Administration SSPA, 2011

Bull M., Rhodes M. (eds) Crisis and Transition in Italian Politics. – Franc Cass, London and Portland, Or., 1997.

Bulmer S., Lequesne Ch. (eds) The Member States of the European Union, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 2012 (parts 1, 3)

Cotta M. European Integration and the Italian Political System / in F. Francioni (ed) Italy and EC Membership Evaluated. –London: Frances Pinter, 1992

Conti N. (ed) Party Attitudes towards the EU in the Member States: Parties for Europe, Parties against Europe. Abingdon: Routledge, 2013, 208 pp.

Dyson K., Featherstone K. The Road to Maastricht. - Negotiating Economic and Monetary Union. -Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1999

Fabbrini S., Piattoni S. (eds) Italy in the European Union: Redefining National Interest in a Compound Polity, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2007

Ginsborg P. Italy and Its Discontents. Family, Civil Society, State. 1980 – 2001. - Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. – 520 p.

Graziano P. R. Europeanization and domestic policy change. The case of Italy. London/New York, Routledge, 2012, 190 pp.

Green Cowles M., Caporaso J., and Risse Th. (eds) Transforming Europe: Europeanization and Domestic Change. -Cornell University Press, 2001

GundleSt., Parker S. (eds) The New Italian Republic: From the Fall of Berlin Wall to Berlusconi. – Routledge, 1996.

Manners J., Whitman R.G. (eds) The Foreign Policies of European Union Member States. -Manchester, New York: Manchester University Press, 2000

Marchi, L., Whitman, R. and Edwards, G. (eds) Italy's foreign policy in the Twenty-first Century: a contested nature? Routledge, Basingstoke, 2015

Perspectives of National Elites on European Citizenship: A South European View / Ed. by Nicolò Conti, Maurizio Cotta and Pedro Tavares de Almeida. Routledge, 2012, 152 p.

Rometsch D., and Wessels W., (eds) The European Union and Member States. -Manchester, 1996

Telò M. Italy's interaction with the European project, from the First to theSecond Republic: Continuity and change. Comparative European Politics, May 2013, Volume 11, Issue 3, pp 296–316