The European Parliament: its election, its actors, and its powers

Within few decades the European Parliament has developed from a consultative assembly into one of the most powerful elected parliaments world-wide. This course provides a research-based introduction to the European Parliament: How is the European Parliament elected? Who are the important actors? And which powers does the European Parliament have? The aim is to equip students with a comprehensive understanding of the election, legislative organisation, decision-making processes, and influence of the European Parliament. This knowledge can serve as a foundation for a future job or for further research in fields like legislative politics, European Union, or international organisation. In addition, the course will enable the students to use the acquired knowledge to analysecurrentandfutureproblems,tounderstandandparticipateinpublicandscientificdebates, and to transfer their knowledge to other contexts.