Interested students can write to Prof. Aggr. Sabrina Cavatorto (sabrina.cavatorto@unisi.it), coordinator of the:
LABORATORY ON NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS AND THE EUROPEAN UNION
Research line A.Y. 2020/2021 & 2021/2022: The EU-ization of parliamentary arenas: crises as an opportunity for new actorness?
Historically the institutionalization of the European Union (EU)-related policy making processes (what we call here “EU-ization”) was not so remarkable in most national parliaments of the EU Member States, even after that the Lisbon Treaty gave them new prerogatives vis-à-vis the national executives to enter EU governance.
The CIRCaP Laboratory on NPs and the EU is aimed at focusing on the role played by the global and European multiple crises erupted in the decade started with 2008 (from the Great Recession and the Eurozone debt crisis to the Covid19 pandemic, passing through the migration crisis, the security threat of Islamic terrorism and, not least, Brexit) in order to discover if they possibly acted as catalysts of change within member states’ parliamentary arenas. We especially ask if, in times of multiple crises, the EU has become a strategic resource for domestic political actors able to influence the way government and oppositions interact. Therefore, when observing specific relevant cases, can we say that the politicization of the EU, which diffusely occurred in most member states during the so called “polycrisis”, also transformed national parliamentary actors’ (MPs) involvement in EU-related policy processes, making it more visible and effective with respect to the national government action?
Assuming a longitudinal perspective, we analyze parliamentary activities and MPs’ discourses related to EU affairs over time, both within the assembly and in some crucial standing committees (such as the specialized committee for EU policies or sector committees, like budget, foreign affairs, welfare). We consider institutional aggregate data by legislatures: volume and type of EU- related parliamentary activities – legislative and non legislative; MPs’ attendance and concrete actions linked to EU issues, comprising amendments and voting behavior, when given. Moreover, on the one hand we compare critical junctures with normal times; on the other hand we cross-check different crises. In addition, content analysis is applied to parliamentary discourses with the aim to describe the interdependence of EU-related policy framing and formulate hypothesis to explain the structure of majority or opposition actors’ coalitions vis-à-vis EU governance.
Duration of a supervised research internship at Circap: 75-100 Hours, corresponding to 3 or 4 ECTS (other competences) (specific students’ needs are considered)
Required competences:
- Knowledge concerning Political Science fundamentals and methodology
- Basic knowledge regarding the functioning of EU governance
- Ability to gather information from the Web and to use Worksheets in Excel
Location/modes of internship performance:
not fixed/flexible, students must have an Internet connection and be available to take part in webinar sessions when required by the Coordinator, exchanging products/results on the basis of an agreed schedule
Outputs: data collection; data-analysis; production of research briefs