Prof. in charge: Dmytro Shevchuk (Co-Lecturers: Vitalii Lebediuk, Olena Shershnyova)
Topic 1: Europe as cultural idea and political project
The meaning of Europe. Jean Monnet’s idea of European community. Classic theories of European integration. Europe as “unfinished journey” (Z. Bauman). Polis and philosophy as origins of European idea. Mental geography. “Visible” and “invisible” borders of Europe. Europe as imagined community. Europe of the Regions. Europe as political and geo-political project in 21th.
Topic 2: The Cultural Values of Europe
The concept of “cultural value”. Main European traditions and system of values (Greek and Roman tradition, Judeo-Christian tradition, Europe and Islam). The value of individuality. The value of reason. The value of self-realization. Cultural conflicts of Values: historical and modern contexts. The diversity of values in contemporary Europe.
Topic 3: “Culture Matters”: values and development of European countries
Values and Human Progress. Multiple modernities in Europe. The question of universality of European values. Attitudes, values, beliefs and Development of Economics. Culture and Democratic Institutions’ Evolution. Culture of minorities and order of society.
Topic 4: Process of Europeanization
The main aspects of Europeanization. Values and Politics of Europeanization. Europeanization and European integration. Europeanization of Public Policy. Europeanization and its impact on the new democracies.
Topic 5: European Values and Modernization
The main models of modernization. Modernization as sharing the values. Modernization process and economic changes. The Enlightenment in Europe: political, cultural and social changes. Modern social imaginary. The modernization of European countries. Three waves of modernization. The modernization of the Eastern Europe.
Topic 6: European Values and Education
The values in process of education. The values of academic life and universities. Bologna process and creating the European educational space. European educational programs and mobility. Spread values through education.
Topic 7: Is there a common European political culture?
Liberty, fairness and responsibility. Freedom under the rule of law. How do Political Cultures matter in the effort to build a unified Europe? A Europe of cultures or a culture of Europe? Euro-scepticism. European Social Survey in 28 European democracies. Historical and cultural borderlines in Europe.
Topic 8: Studying European Political Cultures
The roots of the political culture concept from Aristotle to Tocqueville, and beyond. Political Culture Approach: From General Observations to Case Studies.
Topic 9: Democratization and Political Culture
Media autonomy and press freedom. Mediated political legitimacy. Attribution of responsibility. East European value systems in global perspective. Democratic communities in Europe: a comparison between East and West.
Topic 10: Civil Societies and Political Culture
Civil Liberties. Non-governmental organizations. Voluntary associations. Community organizations. Political culture and what are the interest groups. The main features of the political culture in Europe. The trends and forms of political participation.
Topic 11: Economy and Political Culture
Operationalizing Political and Economic Culture in Europe. The Main Argument: Libertarian and Entrepreneurial Values Do Matter. Entrepreneurial Values. The Quantitative Inquiry.
Topic 12: European Citizenship
The idea of European citizenship. The sovereignty of European countries. Primary and secondary identities. The national identity and European identity. Nations in contemporary Europe. The citizenship without community.
Topic 13: A Constitution for Europe
Constitutional Treaty – key elements. The Constitution of the European Union – history and prospects. The discussion about a European constitution. Why Europe needs a Constitution? (J. Habermas)
Topic 14: Value of Dialogue and Social Communications
Languages of wider social communication. Philosophy of dialogue and principles of ethics. Dialogue and conflict of values in contemporary societies. Deliberative democracy. The main model of agonistic and deliberative democracy.
Topic 15: EU enlargement in 21th century
EU and its neighbours. EU and Turkey relations. EU and Balkan countries. The case for an Associate Membership of the European Union. European Union and challenges of 21th century. Security in Europe. Demographic situation and challenges. Resources and economic development perspective. Conflicts in Europe and EU enlargement.
Topic 1: Europe as cultural idea and political project
The meaning of Europe. Jean Monnet’s idea of European community. Classic theories of European integration. Europe as “unfinished journey” (Z. Bauman). Polis and philosophy as origins of European idea. Mental geography. “Visible” and “invisible” borders of Europe. Europe as imagined community. Europe of the Regions. Europe as political and geo-political project in 21th.
Topic 2: The Cultural Values of Europe
The concept of “cultural value”. Main European traditions and system of values (Greek and Roman tradition, Judeo-Christian tradition, Europe and Islam). The value of individuality. The value of reason. The value of self-realization. Cultural conflicts of Values: historical and modern contexts. The diversity of values in contemporary Europe.
Topic 3: “Culture Matters”: values and development of European countries
Values and Human Progress. Multiple modernities in Europe. The question of universality of European values. Attitudes, values, beliefs and Development of Economics. Culture and Democratic Institutions’ Evolution. Culture of minorities and order of society.
Topic 4: Process of Europeanization
The main aspects of Europeanization. Values and Politics of Europeanization. Europeanization and European integration. Europeanization of Public Policy. Europeanization and its impact on the new democracies.
Topic 5: European Values and Modernization
The main models of modernization. Modernization as sharing the values. Modernization process and economic changes. The Enlightenment in Europe: political, cultural and social changes. Modern social imaginary. The modernization of European countries. Three waves of modernization. The modernization of the Eastern Europe.
Topic 6: European Values and Education
The values in process of education. The values of academic life and universities. Bologna process and creating the European educational space. European educational programs and mobility. Spread values through education.
Topic 7: Is there a common European political culture?
Liberty, fairness and responsibility. Freedom under the rule of law. How do Political Cultures matter in the effort to build a unified Europe? A Europe of cultures or a culture of Europe? Euro-scepticism. European Social Survey in 28 European democracies. Historical and cultural borderlines in Europe.
Topic 8: Studying European Political Cultures
The roots of the political culture concept from Aristotle to Tocqueville, and beyond. Political Culture Approach: From General Observations to Case Studies.
Topic 9: Democratization and Political Culture
Media autonomy and press freedom. Mediated political legitimacy. Attribution of responsibility. East European value systems in global perspective. Democratic communities in Europe: a comparison between East and West.
Topic 10: Civil Societies and Political Culture
Civil Liberties. Non-governmental organizations. Voluntary associations. Community organizations. Political culture and what are the interest groups. The main features of the political culture in Europe. The trends and forms of political participation.
Topic 11: Economy and Political Culture
Operationalizing Political and Economic Culture in Europe. The Main Argument: Libertarian and Entrepreneurial Values Do Matter. Entrepreneurial Values. The Quantitative Inquiry.
Topic 12: European Citizenship
The idea of European citizenship. The sovereignty of European countries. Primary and secondary identities. The national identity and European identity. Nations in contemporary Europe. The citizenship without community.
Topic 13: A Constitution for Europe
Constitutional Treaty – key elements. The Constitution of the European Union – history and prospects. The discussion about a European constitution. Why Europe needs a Constitution? (J. Habermas)
Topic 14: Value of Dialogue and Social Communications
Languages of wider social communication. Philosophy of dialogue and principles of ethics. Dialogue and conflict of values in contemporary societies. Deliberative democracy. The main model of agonistic and deliberative democracy.
Topic 15: EU enlargement in 21th century
EU and its neighbours. EU and Turkey relations. EU and Balkan countries. The case for an Associate Membership of the European Union. European Union and challenges of 21th century. Security in Europe. Demographic situation and challenges. Resources and economic development perspective. Conflicts in Europe and EU enlargement.
Prof. in charge: Olena Shershnyova (Co-Lecturers: Vitalii Lebediuk, Dmytro Shevchuk)
Topic 1: The study of cultural identity: multi-disciplinary field of research
Cultural anthropological approaches to cultural boundaries and cultural change. The underestimated strength of cultural identity between localising and globalising tendencies in the European Union. Local identity and historical memory of community. Relationships and interactions between culture and identity. It will embrace research into the roles of linguistic, social, political, psychological, and religious factors, taking account of historical context.
Topic 2: Constructing identity in Europe
EU identity-building discourse. The challenges for European identity. Three conceptions of a European political identity: (1) Building a common «European fatherland»; (2) A «Europe of fatherlands»; (3) European constitutional patriotism. The paradox of identity politics. Nation-state identity. Citizens’ sense of «nationhood». State institutionalization of collective memories. Member-state identity in Europe. Member-state visions for Europe’s identity. Citizen’s EU identity. What does a European identity mean?
Topic 3: Europe Undivided: issue of identity politics in European Union
European identity and the search for legitimacy. «Politics of recognition». Deep diversity versus constitutional patriotism. The impact of the new nationalism and identity politics on Cultural policy-making in Europe and beyond. Identifying core values in current national identity policies and cultural policy-making. Concepts of identity – a new Council of Europe challenge? Does a European identity have to supplant the national ones? Can it supplement or transform these? How much of a transformation is necessary? Will a European identity be a novel, post-national type of identity?
Topic 4: European identity as political instrument and political vision
Sources and conditions of identity politics. Examining the political relevance of collective identity. Idea and identity of the nation. Political identity construction: nation-state building and regional integration contrasted. Difficulties and peculiarities of supranational community building. The historical-geographical and socio-political characteristics of Europe as a continent «multiple identity area» of overlapping territorial and historical spaces at local, regional and national territorial level. National identities and the idea of European Unity: myths and memories of the nation.
Topic 5: Nationalism in contemporary Europe
Nationalism in Europe: historical aspects. The main concepts of rise of nationalism in Europe. The transformation of nationalism in post-modern times. Nationalism reframed. The right-wing extremism in Europe. The nationalistic populism in Europe. Economic nationalism and development.
Topic 6: Identity and migration in Europe: multidisciplinary perspectives
Identity and Cultural Diversity: Conceptual Entanglements. Toward a New Lexicon and a Conceptual Grammar to Understand the «Multicultural Issue». Negotiation of Identities and Negotiation of Values in Multicultural Societies. Identity and Marginalization: Migrants as the Other. The Self and the Other in Post-modern European Societies. Processes of Constructing and Deconstructing Gender Identities in Contemporary Migrations. Identity and Membership: Where to Belong. Identity and Symbols.
Topic 7: Mapping Eastern Europe: imaginary and integration projects.
Mapping Eastern Europe: political and cultural cartography. Imagining Eastern Europe: a discourse and narrative identity cases. The main geopolitical models of Central and Eastern Europe. Jerzy Gedroyc’s conception of Central and Eastern Europe. Visegrad Group (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary). Russia and Europe relations: historical and modern aspects. Ukraine and Intermarium project.
Topic 8: Multicultural societies in Europe: the main models
Multiculturalism as response to cultural diversity. The main conceptions of multiculturalism. Inclusive citizenship. The features of multicultural societies in Europe. Criticism of multiculturalism. The Failure of Multiculturalism? Alternative multicultural and multinational policies.
Topic 9: Tolerance and value of Other
The philosophical conceptions of tolerance. Repressive tolerance. The issue of authentic tolerance. Tolerance as necessary element of modern societies. Tolerance as value of modern Europe.
Topic 10: Image of the Enemy in Central and Eastern Europe
The Other as an enemy. Conflicts in Central and Eastern Europe. The Balkan conflict. Conflicts in post-soviet countries. Ukrainian-Russian conflict. Image of the enemy as propaganda issue. Stereotypes and discourse identity.
Topic 11: Politics of memory and constructing European identity
Individual and collective memory. Collective memory and identity. Contestant histories and dialogue of memories. Memory and trauma in Europe. Politics of memory and Holocaust. The great famine in Ukraine and discourse of European collective memory. Memory, political change and EU’s integration.
Topic 12: Religious identity. Dialogue between state and religion
Religious heritage in Europe: a brief introduction to historical context. The situation of religions in contemporary Europe. Religious institutions in European countries. Religious differences and ecumenism. Development of democratic values and religion. Religion and European integration. Secularism and laicism in contemporary European countries. Religious education in school.
Topic 13: The Islamic discourse in Europe.
Islam in Europe: historical aspects. Islam in Europe: stats perception vs reality. Islam and its values. The Muslim population in contemporary European countries. Anti-Islam protest: causes and effects. Euro-Islam.
Topic 14: “Cultural wars” and conflicts of values
Conflict of values. Religious wars in Europe. Conflicts in Europe in the 20th century. Two cultural wars in modern Europe: postmodern relativism vs. the defenders of traditional morality; cultural diversity vs. national monoculture. The danger of European cultural wars. Ways to overcome the conflicts of values.
Topic 15: European Union cultural policy
Cultural policy as element of integration and growth of countries. European Agenda for Culture. EU Cultural Policy between Community-building and Market-making. The culture sector as a source of job creation, contributing to growth in Europe. EU's culture and media programmes.
Topic 1: The study of cultural identity: multi-disciplinary field of research
Cultural anthropological approaches to cultural boundaries and cultural change. The underestimated strength of cultural identity between localising and globalising tendencies in the European Union. Local identity and historical memory of community. Relationships and interactions between culture and identity. It will embrace research into the roles of linguistic, social, political, psychological, and religious factors, taking account of historical context.
Topic 2: Constructing identity in Europe
EU identity-building discourse. The challenges for European identity. Three conceptions of a European political identity: (1) Building a common «European fatherland»; (2) A «Europe of fatherlands»; (3) European constitutional patriotism. The paradox of identity politics. Nation-state identity. Citizens’ sense of «nationhood». State institutionalization of collective memories. Member-state identity in Europe. Member-state visions for Europe’s identity. Citizen’s EU identity. What does a European identity mean?
Topic 3: Europe Undivided: issue of identity politics in European Union
European identity and the search for legitimacy. «Politics of recognition». Deep diversity versus constitutional patriotism. The impact of the new nationalism and identity politics on Cultural policy-making in Europe and beyond. Identifying core values in current national identity policies and cultural policy-making. Concepts of identity – a new Council of Europe challenge? Does a European identity have to supplant the national ones? Can it supplement or transform these? How much of a transformation is necessary? Will a European identity be a novel, post-national type of identity?
Topic 4: European identity as political instrument and political vision
Sources and conditions of identity politics. Examining the political relevance of collective identity. Idea and identity of the nation. Political identity construction: nation-state building and regional integration contrasted. Difficulties and peculiarities of supranational community building. The historical-geographical and socio-political characteristics of Europe as a continent «multiple identity area» of overlapping territorial and historical spaces at local, regional and national territorial level. National identities and the idea of European Unity: myths and memories of the nation.
Topic 5: Nationalism in contemporary Europe
Nationalism in Europe: historical aspects. The main concepts of rise of nationalism in Europe. The transformation of nationalism in post-modern times. Nationalism reframed. The right-wing extremism in Europe. The nationalistic populism in Europe. Economic nationalism and development.
Topic 6: Identity and migration in Europe: multidisciplinary perspectives
Identity and Cultural Diversity: Conceptual Entanglements. Toward a New Lexicon and a Conceptual Grammar to Understand the «Multicultural Issue». Negotiation of Identities and Negotiation of Values in Multicultural Societies. Identity and Marginalization: Migrants as the Other. The Self and the Other in Post-modern European Societies. Processes of Constructing and Deconstructing Gender Identities in Contemporary Migrations. Identity and Membership: Where to Belong. Identity and Symbols.
Topic 7: Mapping Eastern Europe: imaginary and integration projects.
Mapping Eastern Europe: political and cultural cartography. Imagining Eastern Europe: a discourse and narrative identity cases. The main geopolitical models of Central and Eastern Europe. Jerzy Gedroyc’s conception of Central and Eastern Europe. Visegrad Group (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary). Russia and Europe relations: historical and modern aspects. Ukraine and Intermarium project.
Topic 8: Multicultural societies in Europe: the main models
Multiculturalism as response to cultural diversity. The main conceptions of multiculturalism. Inclusive citizenship. The features of multicultural societies in Europe. Criticism of multiculturalism. The Failure of Multiculturalism? Alternative multicultural and multinational policies.
Topic 9: Tolerance and value of Other
The philosophical conceptions of tolerance. Repressive tolerance. The issue of authentic tolerance. Tolerance as necessary element of modern societies. Tolerance as value of modern Europe.
Topic 10: Image of the Enemy in Central and Eastern Europe
The Other as an enemy. Conflicts in Central and Eastern Europe. The Balkan conflict. Conflicts in post-soviet countries. Ukrainian-Russian conflict. Image of the enemy as propaganda issue. Stereotypes and discourse identity.
Topic 11: Politics of memory and constructing European identity
Individual and collective memory. Collective memory and identity. Contestant histories and dialogue of memories. Memory and trauma in Europe. Politics of memory and Holocaust. The great famine in Ukraine and discourse of European collective memory. Memory, political change and EU’s integration.
Topic 12: Religious identity. Dialogue between state and religion
Religious heritage in Europe: a brief introduction to historical context. The situation of religions in contemporary Europe. Religious institutions in European countries. Religious differences and ecumenism. Development of democratic values and religion. Religion and European integration. Secularism and laicism in contemporary European countries. Religious education in school.
Topic 13: The Islamic discourse in Europe.
Islam in Europe: historical aspects. Islam in Europe: stats perception vs reality. Islam and its values. The Muslim population in contemporary European countries. Anti-Islam protest: causes and effects. Euro-Islam.
Topic 14: “Cultural wars” and conflicts of values
Conflict of values. Religious wars in Europe. Conflicts in Europe in the 20th century. Two cultural wars in modern Europe: postmodern relativism vs. the defenders of traditional morality; cultural diversity vs. national monoculture. The danger of European cultural wars. Ways to overcome the conflicts of values.
Topic 15: European Union cultural policy
Cultural policy as element of integration and growth of countries. European Agenda for Culture. EU Cultural Policy between Community-building and Market-making. The culture sector as a source of job creation, contributing to growth in Europe. EU's culture and media programmes.
Prof. in charge: Vitalii Lebediuk (Co-Lecturers: Dmytro Shevchuk, Olena Shershnyova)
Topic 1: Theories of the European Integration before and after Communism
The philosophical meaning of political and civic European integration – from West to East. Historical sequences and theoretical modelling of European integration (from the Middle Ages until the Treaty of Lisbon). Modern and contemporary authors about the problem of a European integration philosophy. The European cultural model. Pan Europe manifesto as a philosophical-political alternative. The European citizenship inside of the legislative framework. European integration theories as the alliance between knowledge, political action, spirituality, equilibrium, goodwill and legality.
Topic 2: Socio-cultural aspects of transition in Central and Eastern European countries
Establishment of democratic regime in former authoritarian societies. Socio-cultural factors and political systems. The political culture as series of social values, beliefs and attitudes about the political systems and its functions. Core political values: frustrations with democracy. Democratic re-socialization. Inequality and poverty. Political elites and direct democratic processes. Do we have a civic spirit in the «European» meaning? «Returning to Europe» of Central and Eastern Europe countries.
Topic 3: Political transition and the state of democracy in East Central Europe: between hopes and disillusions
Constitutional order and institutional framework. The Copenhagen Criteria. Consolidated democracies and semi-consolidated democracies. EU Enlargement and the Constitutions of Central and Eastern Europe. A «democratic deficit» in the EU institutional structure. The EU Parliament and the everyday lives of citizens. Political changes with potential limitations to democracy (democracy in Slovakia and especially in Hungary and Poland). Party systems and party identification in CEE countries. The Impact of EU Integration on the Party System. Civil society, Civil liberties and human rights. National and ethnic minorities. Nationalism and the elitist-populist pendulum.
Topic 4: Elections, the electoral process and participation in East Central Europe
Unicameral legislatures (Hungary, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia) and bicameral legislatures (Czech Republic, Romania, Poland). Electoral process in CEE countries. E-voting. Election to the European Parliament and in municipal elections in the State of residence. Voter turnout in parliamentary elections in CEE countries. Democratic values and citizen’ active participation in politics.
Topic 5: Corruption and state capture in post-Communist Europe
Causes of corruption. Citizens’ perception of corruption. Consequences of corruption in CEE countries. Private interests and distribution of the public money. Quality of Government Institute. Between localized and full-scale capture. Corruptive Patterns of Patronage in CEE countries. The contractual network of organizations. Elite group in public procurement network structure. The Impact of EU Funds on Corruption in Central and Eastern Europe. Corruption control and labour migration. Effectiveness of anti-corruption measures.
Topic 6: “Shock” and “Therapy”: political post socialist transformation in Eastern European countries
System changes and functioning of economy. The strategies of economic growth. Economic reforms. The politics of transformation and strategy of development. Structural changes in post-communist societies. Liberalization and free market. Re-distribution of goods and value of justice. Internalization of post-communist societies.
Topic 7: Passive and Active Leverages of EU: the case of Eastern Europe
Models of European impact. The conception of passive and active leverages. Influencing governments. Constitutional process in post-communist countries and European influence. EU’s influence of the reform the state and economy. Debating the European influence and leverages.
Topic 8: Process of institution building in post-communist countries
The communist legacy and post-communist regime change. Re-conceptualization of regime. European strategies for promoting democracy in post-communist countries. The main theories of democratic institution. Implementing the principles of democratic institution building in post-communist countries.
Topic 9: Democratic institutions and their value (Civil society and rule of law)
The main models of civil society. Civil society and social development. Counter-democracy and civil control. The social projects and network of communication. The EU’s programs for development the civil society. Rule of law as fundamental element of democratic society. The human rights.
Topic 10: Post-communist countries as European frontiers
The frontier studies and cultural studies of social and cultural identity. The idea of European frontiers. Post-communist countries and their socio-cultural identity. Ukraine-Belarus-Moldova as European frontiers and their EU’s integration
Topic 11: The “Velvet” revolutions and political transformation
The concept of “velvet revolution”. The civil resistance in Europe. The case of Polish Solidarity. The “Velvet revolutions” and the end of communism in 1989. The rose revolution in Georgia. The Orange revolution in Ukraine 2004. The effect of “velvet revolution”
Topic 12: Ukrainian Euromaidan
Ukraine-European Union Association Agreement. The causes of Euromaidan. EuroRevolution. The real and symbolic landscapes of Euromaidan. The revitalization of European idea and values. Understanding the Euromaidan: view from EU and Russia.
Topic 13: Ukraine-European Union relations
History of EU – Ukraine relations (early relations, post-Orange revolution relations, period of Yanukovych’s presidency, period of Poroshenko’s presidency), Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (1994), European Neighbourhood Policy, Association Agreement (AA). Economic relations. Perspectives of Ukrainian EU membership.
Topic 14: Europe and Ukrainian-Russian Crisis
The history of Ukrainian-Russian conflicts. The “Russian world” as geopolitical project. The case of Crimea. The case of Donbas. War on the Donbas and EU position. The security challenges in Europe.
Topic 15: Civic education and promoting the democratic values in Europe
The role of civic education in Europe. Promoting the European fundamental values. Educational communities. Informal learning as vector for civic ownership at local level. Democracy, economic stability and civic education. The using European experience in Ukraine.
Topic 1: Theories of the European Integration before and after Communism
The philosophical meaning of political and civic European integration – from West to East. Historical sequences and theoretical modelling of European integration (from the Middle Ages until the Treaty of Lisbon). Modern and contemporary authors about the problem of a European integration philosophy. The European cultural model. Pan Europe manifesto as a philosophical-political alternative. The European citizenship inside of the legislative framework. European integration theories as the alliance between knowledge, political action, spirituality, equilibrium, goodwill and legality.
Topic 2: Socio-cultural aspects of transition in Central and Eastern European countries
Establishment of democratic regime in former authoritarian societies. Socio-cultural factors and political systems. The political culture as series of social values, beliefs and attitudes about the political systems and its functions. Core political values: frustrations with democracy. Democratic re-socialization. Inequality and poverty. Political elites and direct democratic processes. Do we have a civic spirit in the «European» meaning? «Returning to Europe» of Central and Eastern Europe countries.
Topic 3: Political transition and the state of democracy in East Central Europe: between hopes and disillusions
Constitutional order and institutional framework. The Copenhagen Criteria. Consolidated democracies and semi-consolidated democracies. EU Enlargement and the Constitutions of Central and Eastern Europe. A «democratic deficit» in the EU institutional structure. The EU Parliament and the everyday lives of citizens. Political changes with potential limitations to democracy (democracy in Slovakia and especially in Hungary and Poland). Party systems and party identification in CEE countries. The Impact of EU Integration on the Party System. Civil society, Civil liberties and human rights. National and ethnic minorities. Nationalism and the elitist-populist pendulum.
Topic 4: Elections, the electoral process and participation in East Central Europe
Unicameral legislatures (Hungary, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia) and bicameral legislatures (Czech Republic, Romania, Poland). Electoral process in CEE countries. E-voting. Election to the European Parliament and in municipal elections in the State of residence. Voter turnout in parliamentary elections in CEE countries. Democratic values and citizen’ active participation in politics.
Topic 5: Corruption and state capture in post-Communist Europe
Causes of corruption. Citizens’ perception of corruption. Consequences of corruption in CEE countries. Private interests and distribution of the public money. Quality of Government Institute. Between localized and full-scale capture. Corruptive Patterns of Patronage in CEE countries. The contractual network of organizations. Elite group in public procurement network structure. The Impact of EU Funds on Corruption in Central and Eastern Europe. Corruption control and labour migration. Effectiveness of anti-corruption measures.
Topic 6: “Shock” and “Therapy”: political post socialist transformation in Eastern European countries
System changes and functioning of economy. The strategies of economic growth. Economic reforms. The politics of transformation and strategy of development. Structural changes in post-communist societies. Liberalization and free market. Re-distribution of goods and value of justice. Internalization of post-communist societies.
Topic 7: Passive and Active Leverages of EU: the case of Eastern Europe
Models of European impact. The conception of passive and active leverages. Influencing governments. Constitutional process in post-communist countries and European influence. EU’s influence of the reform the state and economy. Debating the European influence and leverages.
Topic 8: Process of institution building in post-communist countries
The communist legacy and post-communist regime change. Re-conceptualization of regime. European strategies for promoting democracy in post-communist countries. The main theories of democratic institution. Implementing the principles of democratic institution building in post-communist countries.
Topic 9: Democratic institutions and their value (Civil society and rule of law)
The main models of civil society. Civil society and social development. Counter-democracy and civil control. The social projects and network of communication. The EU’s programs for development the civil society. Rule of law as fundamental element of democratic society. The human rights.
Topic 10: Post-communist countries as European frontiers
The frontier studies and cultural studies of social and cultural identity. The idea of European frontiers. Post-communist countries and their socio-cultural identity. Ukraine-Belarus-Moldova as European frontiers and their EU’s integration
Topic 11: The “Velvet” revolutions and political transformation
The concept of “velvet revolution”. The civil resistance in Europe. The case of Polish Solidarity. The “Velvet revolutions” and the end of communism in 1989. The rose revolution in Georgia. The Orange revolution in Ukraine 2004. The effect of “velvet revolution”
Topic 12: Ukrainian Euromaidan
Ukraine-European Union Association Agreement. The causes of Euromaidan. EuroRevolution. The real and symbolic landscapes of Euromaidan. The revitalization of European idea and values. Understanding the Euromaidan: view from EU and Russia.
Topic 13: Ukraine-European Union relations
History of EU – Ukraine relations (early relations, post-Orange revolution relations, period of Yanukovych’s presidency, period of Poroshenko’s presidency), Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (1994), European Neighbourhood Policy, Association Agreement (AA). Economic relations. Perspectives of Ukrainian EU membership.
Topic 14: Europe and Ukrainian-Russian Crisis
The history of Ukrainian-Russian conflicts. The “Russian world” as geopolitical project. The case of Crimea. The case of Donbas. War on the Donbas and EU position. The security challenges in Europe.
Topic 15: Civic education and promoting the democratic values in Europe
The role of civic education in Europe. Promoting the European fundamental values. Educational communities. Informal learning as vector for civic ownership at local level. Democracy, economic stability and civic education. The using European experience in Ukraine.