RC03 - European Unification

Call for Papers for the Panel “The 2024 Elections in the EU: Implications for Parties, Voters, and Governance” organised by Angeliki Konstantinidou at the 2025 IPSA World Congress of Political Science (12-16 July 2025, Seoul, South Korea)

Deadline for submitting paper proposals: 5 November 2024. Submit your proposal via this link: https://wc2025.ipsa.org/my-congress/submit/paper (you need to be logged in to your IPSA account). Select for the “Requested Track” the option “RC03 European Unification” and then for the “Open Panel” the title of the panel.

Find out more about the panel here: https://wc2025.ipsa.org/wc/panel/2024-elections-eu-implications-parties-voters-and-governance

Panel abstract: In a rapidly evolving political climate marked by complex transformations of EU governance and policies, the electoral results of the 2024 national and European Parliament elections play a significant role in shaping the interplay between domestic and EU politics, the relations between Member States, and the position of the EU in international policymaking. This panel seeks to examine the salience of different issues with a European dimension during the 2024 electoral campaigns, while also offering valuable insights into shifting party positioning on European integration, public interest in/support for the EU, as well as changing vote choices of EU citizens.

Call for Papers for the Panel “Legal or political? A problem of non-compliance with the CJEU rulings in the European Union Member States” organised by Renata Mienkowska Norkiene at the 2023 IPSA World Congress of Political Science

Deadline for submitting paper proposals: 18^th of January 2023

https://wc2023.ipsa.org/wc/panel/legal-or-political-problem-non-compliance-cjeu-rulings-european-union-member-states   

Panel abstract: Studies of the rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) have so far focused mainly on the legal analysis of judgments or legal problems related to the question of non-compliance. Meanwhile, in expert and public debates on the condition of the EU and the challenges it has been facing, the role of the CJEU goes beyond the issues of interpreting EU law and the question of non-compliance goes far beyond the legal aspects. The panel has a few purposes: 1) To analyze the impact of CJEU judgments on national constitutional courts, 2) To analyze political significance of the CJEU judgements for the MS from the point of view of polity, policy and politics, 3) To analyze the the dialogue over the CJEU rulings and non-compliance between the EU institutions and the Member States. The panel will contribute to the debate on the political significance of the CJEU jurisprudence for the EU institutions, Member States, and EU citizens, it will also contribute to the analysis of the political reasons and the consequences of non-compliance. The presentation will answer questions about political significance of the CJEU judgements, where approach towards the question of “the political” will be based upon its notion elaborated by Carl Shmitt and modified by Chantal Mouffe.

Call for Papers for the Panel “EU Geopolitical Actorness in a Multiplex Order” organised by Dealan Riga at the 2023 IPSA World Congress of Political Science

Deadline for submitting paper proposals: 18^th of January 2023

https://wc2023.ipsa.org/wc/panel/eu-geopolitical-actorness-multiplex-order?fbclid=IwAR27Use3INb08spktx_1dGQX6QVMYkojiUEB78anZUqkSl3YXO9qb9GJ3yU

Panel abstract: In 2019, Ursula Von der Leyen mentioned her intention to lead a geopolitical commission. Since then, the concept of geopoliticization has received increased scholarly attention in research on the new features of European Union (EU) policy-making. However, particular analytical elements such as the one of strategic autonomy still escape the scope of current conceptual toolboxes. This panel aims to examine the shift of EU’s actorness from a normative focus to a strategic one. In exploring the geopolitical reasoning within the EU framework, the panel seeks to contribute to ongoing debates aiming to revisit the concept of actorness in light of new regional and global challenges.
Further research is much needed in this area, especially since the multipolarity framework did not manage to enable scholarly work beyond transatlantic ties. The West remains the dominant unit of analysis when it comes to EU strategic positioning, while the conceptual framework focusing on geostrategy remains ill-equipped to consider supranational networks as units for analysis. Moreover, new geopolitical turmoil such as the war in Ukraine urge further reflection on EU’s strategic capabilities in terms of geopolitical actorness. Yet, as global challenges are increasingly complexifying, researchers have to acknowledge growing fragmentation of global affairs when conceptualising and measuring actorness or its effectiveness.
This panel welcomes contributions considering EU strategies within complex world issues to draft key features of geopolitical actorness. Paper proposals can address different themes that could include (without being restricted to) topics such as: EU’s engagement to systemic rivalries; EU foreign policy in rising geostrategic regions (Western Balkans; Eastern Europe; Indo-Pacific, etc.); EU’s attempts to tackle power diffusion; EU capabilities to foster democratic governance; limits of EU strategic toolbox in the wake of complex challenges, recent developments regarding EU actorness in global politics and governance. The panel welcomes both conceptual and empirical contributions providing either specific case studies or comparative analysis to examine the extent to which EU’s geopolitical actorness is designed to tackle complex world challenges.

IPSA Research Committee RC03 European Unification is inviting you to submit proposals for our Session at the 2023 IPSA World Congress of Political Science. This international event will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 15-19 July 2023. Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to share your work with peers, to learn from other scholars and to meet political scientists worldwide. 

Proposals for panels and papers for the RC03 Session can focus on any aspect related to the process of European integration and EU politics. This can include, for instance, topics such as: theories of integration; public policy in the EU; multilevel governance and EU decision-making; the evolution and functioning of EU institutions; democracy, legitimacy and accountability in the EU; electoral politics in the EU; the EU as a global actor; economic and fiscal governance in the EU; rule of law; values and rights in the EU, etc.

The call for proposals is from 20 September 2022 to 18 January 2023. Please visit the World Congress’ website for important details and submission guidelines. You may submit your panel proposals here (please select the Session RC03 European Unification). Deadline for OPEN panels: 1 November 2022. Deadline for CLOSED panels: 18 January 2023. Please note that the Call for Papers will open on 15 November 2022. 

Panel title: “POPULISM, ANTI-POPULISM, AND THE EU”

Chair: Carlo Ruzza
Discussants: Hans-Joerg Trenz

Populism scholarship is fast gaining momentum in social and political sciences. However, less attention has been paid to the relationship between populist politics, EU institutions, and EU Civil Society.
While populism has been analysed from a variety of perspectives and methodologies, the scholarship has particularly focused on national and cross national cases, rather than on its European dimension. This panel aims to discuss how populist forces are impacting and reshaping EU institutions, civil society, and the representations and public debate that surround the European Union. We welcome papers that focus on different dimensions of this topic, such as:
• The impact of populism on European institutions, in terms of discourses, practices, and policy making;
• The relationships and interactions between populism and European organised civil society;
• How political forces at EU level are re-organizing themselves to face the challenge of populism;
• How populism is reshaping the public debate about the European Union, and what strategies non-populist and anti-populist forces apply to react to populism;
• How the rise of populist forces has shaped citizens’ perception of the EU and its institutions.
• Innovative theoretical perspectives on populism and its relationship with the EU.
• How to disentangle the relationship between populist and nationalist politics, within the EU insittutions and across Europe more broadly.

The panel aims at representing a forum of debate over the dynamics and consequences of populism for the EU, and how political forces and civil society should face this challenge. Papers that assess the relationship between populism and the EU from different theoretical and methodological perspectives are particularly welcome.
Submit all paper proposals to paolo.cossarini@unitn.it by Friday, October 18 2019

Panel “Citizenship and mobility in the EU: policies and practices”

Panel chair: Daniela Vintila (Centre for Ethnic and Migration Studies, University of Liege)

Abstract: In a context of widening inequalities and rising populism, increasing mobility to and from EU countries clearly represents a major challenge for defining the boundaries of citizenship in the EU. The integration of migrants and their offspring across Europe has increasingly gained salience in societal and political debates. At the same time, the EU citizenship status continues to be portrayed as a powerful institutional and legal tool that marks the reconfiguration of the traditional paradigm of belonging in an increasingly diverse European Union. This panel seeks to contribute to ongoing debates regarding the design, outcomes and outputs of citizenship and mobility policies within the EU. To do so, we focus on three important angles. Firstly, we examine the legal implications of the EU citizenship status for the integration of mobile EU citizens across European host countries and, more broadly, for the politics of inclusion and exclusion within the EU. Secondly, we focus on mobile Europeans’ rights by looking not only at how these rights are defined and contested across the EU, but also at how EU citizens exercise these rights while residing in another EU Member State or in non-EU countries. Thirdly, the panel also discusses new top-down and bottom up participatory initiatives aiming to strengthen mobile Europeans’ identification with the EU by reshaping the meaning and significance of the EU citizenship.

Deadline for abstracts: Thursday 3^rd October, please send to Daniela.Vintila@uliege.be

Call for Papers Panel: "Representative Democracy in Danger? The Impact of Populist Parties on the Powers of National Parliaments"- IPSA World Congress, Lisbon 2020
Panel convenor: Dr. Aleksandra Maatsch (Chair of Social Sciences and Economy, Willy Brandt Centre for German and European Studies, University of Wrocław)
Panel chair: Prof. Dr. Ireneusz Paweł Karolewski (Chair of Political Theory and Research on Democracy, University of Leipzig)
Panel co-chair: Dr. Aleksandra Maatsch (Chair of Social Sciences and Economy, Willy Brandt Centre for German and European Studies, University of Wrocław)

Over recent years no other phenomenon has received greater academic attention than populism. While the meaning of the term continues to generate deep controversies among scholars, there is a broad consensus on populism constituting one of the most serious challenges to contemporary politics. It may therefore seem surprising that one important aspect of the problem has so far escaped academic attention: comparative studies analysing whether (and if yes, how) populist parties influence the powers of national parliaments. This workshop therefore addresses the following questions: How does the presence of populist parties in national parliaments influence core parliamentary competences, namely law-making, scrutiny and representation? To what extent does the presence of populists in national parliaments erode representative democracy?
Why is this research question worth looking at? Firstly, for a democracy to thrive, national parliaments cannot be constrained in their capacity to control and to hold governments accountable and to debate and vote on legislative projects while also representing the variety of interests in the deliberative and law-making process. Secondly, we have no systematic knowledge regarding the impact of populist actors on national parliaments in Europe or elsewhere. In particular, we do not know which aspects of national parliamentary competences have been predominantly affected by the presence of populist parties in the national parliaments of specific states.
The aim is therefore to examine the de facto practices of national parliamentary legislative, scrutiny and representative functions under the impact of populist parties (our dependent variable). We are interested in examining the impact of populist parties as (a) the parliamentary opposition; (b) junior coalition partners in governments and (c) the major force in a government. We welcome papers focusing on European and non-European states, country case-studies and comparative papers employing either qualitative or quantitative
methods. Regarding the topics of the papers, we welcome contributions focusing on any of the core aspects of national parliamentary powers (i.e. law-making and/or scrutiny).
The panel is open to researchers working in different subfields of political science and legal studies. As output from the workshop, the organiser is aiming for a special issue in an international peer-reviewed journal.

Deadline for abstracts: Monday 7^th October, please send to maatsch@wbz.uni.wroc.pl

CfP Panel “Identity(ies)-building in the EU: discourse, actors and dynamics”

Chair: Annie NIESSEN

Panel to be submitted for the Session RC03 European Unification

During the past decades, the European Union has increasingly focused on actively reinforcing a sense of European identity through the promotion of the EU citizenship status and rights, cultural policies and symbolic references, among others. Yet, a return to nationalist attitudes can be observed in some EU Member States, notably in the voting behavior of EU citizens and their increasing skepticism towards EU membership.

This sheds light on some unresolved conflicting identity issues between the European and national levels, while also raising important questions such as: What is the role of the EU institutions and national actors in shaping a common, European, identity? Which dynamics lead to reinforcing or weakening European or national identities? Can European and national identities coexist and complement each other? To what extent discourses for regional autonomy at national level or supranational discourses at EU level may have an impact on how identity is shaped in the EU?

This panel aims to address these questions by focusing on the multi-dimensional construction of identity – or identities – within the EU, as well as on the actors and dynamics involved in this process of identity-building. The panel welcomes contributions with both theoretical and empirical approaches, as well as with various methodological and epistemological stances.

Paper proposals should be sent via email to Annie Niessen (annie.niessen@uliege.be) by 1st of October 2019 (midnight GMT). Paper proposals should include the title of the paper (no more than 25 words) and the abstract (no more than 250 words). For more information about the congress, please visit: https://wc2020.ipsa.org/wc/home

Call for papers

IPSA World Congress of Political Science, Lisbon, 25-29 July 2020

Panel title: The Brexit and the Future of European Security Affairs - https://wc2020.ipsa.org/wc/panel/brexit-and-future-european-security-affairs

Convenor: Prof. Benjamin Zyla

Type: Open Panel

Chair: Dr. Arnold Kammel

The Brexit has attracted a lot of scholarly attention especially to its economic and social implications. However, what has largely been neglected is a discussion of its implications for both NATO and Europe’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The aim and objective of this panel is to close this gap. How will the Brexit affect the inner mechanics of the transatlantic alliance (NATO) and CFSP in particular in the years to come? What implications does it have for CFSP missions (civilian & military), also financially?
Why are these important questions? First, the UK has been an integral part of the transatlantic as well as European security architecture since their beginnings. Second, the is EU currently exposed to a variety of external security and foreign policy challenges, including threats from Russia, as well as the instability permeating the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. On the NATO side, the climate is uncertain as well, especially given President Trump’s questioning of the viability of NATO. Thus, it appears to be clear is that the Brexit is more than simply an internal management exercise where British commitments (financial & human resources etc.) to the EU are going to be ‘switched around’ from one organization to the other—that is from the EU to NATO—or where their human resources (civilian & military) are being rotated out of the respective EU institutions in Brussels and posted elsewhere. The Brexit is much more fundamental than that, touching upon the very basic foundations of European security affairs and the transatlantic relationship. Against this backdrop, it is fair to hypothesize that the Brexit will undoubtedly have significant policy implications for all transatlantic security actors and institutions involved in the management thereof, in Britain, in NATO, and in the EU.

Session

RC03 European Unification

Call for papers

IPSA World Congress of Political Science, Lisbon, 25-29 July 2020

Panel title: Democracy Decline in EU Member States and EU Neighbours – Is the EU Helpless?- https://wc2020.ipsa.org/wc/panel/democracy-decline-eu-member-states-and-eu-neighbours-eu-helpless

Convenor: Dr. Adam Szymanski

Type: Open Panel

In many states in the world, including the EU and its neighbourhood, we can observe the phenomenon called most often “de-democratization”, “democracy decline” or “democratic backsliding”. It has many faces – it can be about lowering the quality of democracy but sometimes also the situation close (if not identical) to the change of the regime – to a less democratic one.
 

It is often associated in the literature with the process of de-Europeanization. In the context of democratization it is connected with the frequent distancing from the European democratic values, rules and procedures. In practice it means often the reversal of previous reforms or conducting them without reference to the EU standards of liberal democracy. However, the de-Europeanization is also often associated with the weakening EU capabilities to react to the changes in (of) political regimes.
 

The aim of the panel is to investigate if the EU is really helpless in reacting to democracy decline – both in the EU members (such as Hungary, Poland or Romania) and its neighbours which either aspire to be the EU members in the future (Turkey, Western Balkan states) or want to have close ties with the EU (ENP countries), taking into consideration the current state of affairs.
 

The following questions will be posed: Are the current instruments and procedures in the EU insufficient and ineffective in response to the democracy decline in EU members (e.g. infringement procedures, art. 7 TEU) or countries within the EU enlargement and the ENP (mechanisms led by conditionality)? If so, what is needed to change this situation? What are the key problems for the EU to act effectively? What is the impact of particular EU institutions in the case in question – the European Commission, the European Parliament or the Court of Justice of the EU?
 

All of these, and more questions will be answered in the panel, which can include both empirical studies (single case studies and comparative analyses) and more theoretical papers trying to answer the question if the current theoretical framework is sufficient to explain the EU problems concerning the impact on the political regimes.