A MAPPING OF EUROPEAN STUDIES EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI: POLITICAL SCIENCE

The primary goal and mandate of this study are to map the development of European Economic Community (EEC), now European Union (EU) studies (EEC/EU) in political science in the United States (US). The discussion of EU studies in the US has been divided into two chapters due to the large quantity of research this field has generated in the US since 1958. This chapter concentrates on the middle and eastern regions of the US where proximity to Europe has promoted interest in European politics and scholarship on European integration and EEC/EU development. There is another chapter focusing primarily on political science studies of the EU in the western US region, and also a chapter on teaching the EU. The chapters on political science scholarship focusing on the EU form part of a larger body of scholarship mapping EU studies around the world

Analyzing European Union Politics

The speed and depth with which the European Communities/ European Union has evolved is breathtaking and has radically shaped the life of the continent. Ever since the beginning of this ambitious economic and political project, scholars around the world have tried to explain the underlying logic behind it and the mechanisms of its functioning. Thus, a plethora of studies developed alongside the evolution of the EU. SENT (Network of European Studies) is an innovative and ambitious project which brought together about 100 partners from the EU member states, candidate and associated countries, and other parts of the world. It was a far reaching project aimed to overcome disciplinary and geographical- linguistic boundaries in order to assess the state of EU studies today, as well as the idea of Europe as transmitted by schools, national politicians, the media, etc. SENT’s main goal was to map European studies, in order to get a comprehensive picture of the evolution of European studies over the last decades in different disciplines and countries. This approach permitted to achieve a better understanding of the direction these studies are now taking. Five disciplines were identified where EU studies have particularly evolved: law, politics, economics, history, and social and cultural studies. The mapping of EU studies thus includes a review of the most studied issues in EU studies today, the main academic schools, the most influential journals and books published, but it also shows how local realities and national identities affect the study and teaching of Europe around the world. In addition, an important work was done in mapping and discussing teaching methodologies in relation to European studies with the aim of introducing and diffusing the most up-to-date techniques

"Enlargement, spending policies and the EU budget"

This paper examines the political aspects of the EU's budget and enlargement process, using frequently asked questions as guidelines, in order to see the effects of the EU's enlargement on its budget. It looks at the costs (both political and economic) of enlargement. It studies the procedures and philosophies involved in establishing the budget. Then the paper examines the EU's budget and its sources of revenue and expenditure commitments. Further, it looks at the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and its place in the overall budget structure. We especially focus on budgetary changes to the CAP, because it is the largest single expense and one of the EU's first "common policies." Finally, the paper presents more historical and poetical analysis along with some concluding remarks