EVSb2076 Decentralization in Member States of the EU

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2024

The course is not taught in Autumn 2024

Extent and Intensity
1/1. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Taught in person.
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Pavel Dvořák, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Petr Kaniok, Ph.D.
Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Olga Cídlová, DiS.
Supplier department: Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Prerequisites (in Czech)
! EVS176 Decentralization && ! NOW ( EVS176 Decentralization )
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/30, only registered: 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 23 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The course is focused on decentralization and decentralization processes in selected EU members states. The first class is dedicated to theoretical introduction; main concepts, approaches and terminology. Subsequently the decentralised political systems of the “traditional” federal states (namely Germany and Austria) are presented. The rest of the classes will deal with particular case studies, i.e. individual decentralized states. The focus will be aimed at state and nation building process as well as at present forms of territorial distribution of power. We will follow reasons for decentralization, factors affecting decentralization, actors of decentralization and also results of decentralization. In all the cases the European integration will be taken into consideration. In this context we will focus on the channels of regional representation in the EU arena, the channels of cross-national regional cooperation, the importance of the EU for decentralization processes and last but not least on the impacts of EU membership on domestic equilibrium of powers.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
-deal and use the basic theoretical approaches to the study of decentralization and federalism
-demonstrate knowledge of decentralised political systems of the selected EU member states
-make a comparison among these systems and different instances of decentralization processes
-explain the present-day form of political and territorial distribution of power in these states
-understand the role of European integration in the decentralization processes and the importance and role of regional level in the EU.
Syllabus
  • Introduction to the course: content of the course, obligations to be met by students
  • Theoretical introduction: main concepts, approaches and terminology.(Forms of state organization - unitary vs. federal state, nation state and its generation, the term "region" and its content, regionalism vs. regionalization, different facets and meanings of decentralization, multi-level governance etc.)
  • “Traditional” federal states: Germany and Austria. (Federalism as the final expression of decentralization, present-day character of German and Austrian federalism, administrative, executive, participatory and unitary federalism.)
  • Belgium: Birth of Belgium, a century of unity, Flemish emancipation, language border, decentralization and federalization, the state on the verge of desintegration.
  • Spain: One peninsula - various kingdoms, the birth of United Spain, Bourbon centralism, Second republic and Estado integral, francoist uniformity, transtition to democracy and decentralization, State of the Autonomies, proto-federalism, Catalan question.
  • United Kingdom: England and independent kingdoms of the Celtic Fringe, union with Wales, Scotland and (Northern) Ireland, the fight for Home Rule, devolution and new form of "Union State", independent Scotland?
  • Italy: Italian Peninsula under various rulers, il Risorgimento, Italian Kingdom of the Savoy dynasty, fascist uniformity, Constitution of 1948 and "false" regionalization, regions with special/ordinary statutes, new wave of decentralization, empty content of federalism.
  • France: Napoleonic state, France as a model of unitary state, laws on decentralization, contemporary France - indivisible and kind of decentralised.
  • Portugal and Finland: Federacies
  • Poland and Romania: Weaker forms of decentralizations.
  • Decentralization and European Union
Literature
    required literature
  • DRAKE, Helen. Contemporary France. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. xv, 239. ISBN 9780333792438. 2011. info
  • Federalism beyond federations : asymmetry and processes of resymmetrization in Europe. Edited by Ferran Requejo - Klaus-Jürgen Nagel. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Pub. Co. xv, 279. ISBN 9781409409229. 2011. info
  • CABADA, Ladislav. Aktuální výzvy evropského integračního procesu. Plzeň: Vydavatelství a nakladatelství Aleš Čeněk. 295 s. ISBN 9788073802899. 2010. info
  • MAGONE, José M. Contemporary Spanish politics. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge. xxvii, 490. ISBN 9780415421898. 2009. info
  • CABADA, Ladislav. Evropa regionů. Plzeň: Vydavatelství a nakladatelství Aleš Čeněk. 223 s. ISBN 9788073801632. 2009. info
  • COLE, Alistair. Governing and governance in France. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. xiii, 249. ISBN 9780521608312. 2008. info
  • Víceúrovňové vládnutí v Evropě: zkušenosti, problémy a výzvy. Edited by Břetislav Dančák - Vít Hloušek. 1. vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita. Mezinárodní politologický ústav. 245 s. ISBN 9788021044586. 2007. info
  • SWENDEN, Wilfried. Federalism and regionalism in Western Europe : a comparative and thematic analysis. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. xv, 325. ISBN 1403906270. 2006. URL info
  • Federalism and territorial cleavages. Edited by Ugo M. Amoretti - Nancy Gina Bermeo. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xii, 498. ISBN 0801874084. 2004. URL info
  • FIALA, Vlastimil and Blanka ŘÍCHOVÁ. Úloha politických aktérů v procesu decentralizace. Praha: Moneta-FM ve spolupráci s katedrou politologie a společenských věd Právnické fakulty Univerzity Palackého v Olomouci a katedrou politologie Institutu politologických studií Univerzity Karlovy v Praze. 616 s. ISBN 8090096581. 2002. info
Teaching methods
The course consists of lectures. Nevertheless two classes will be partly dedicated to discussion. Both of these discussions will be evaluated with the maximum of three points.
Assessment methods
The course is concluded with a written exam. The overall assessment is composed of the final written test (max. 40 points), midterm written test (max. 20 points), seminar paper (max. 25 points) and active participation on two discussions (max. 6 points). To pass the exam the students must obtain at least 24 points from the final written test. The maximum number of points the students can get is 91. (5 extra points can be attributed to any student for aktivity during the lectures.)
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
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