The research group works on the following areas:
- Mapping of the European Union's political-administrative multi-level structure
- Studies of EU decision-making processes and their democratic consequences
- Studies of various policy areas in the EU with particular emphasis on EU foreign policy, health policy, and research and higher education policy.
- The EU's role in the world, with particular emphasis on Central and Eastern Europe Norwegian European policy
- International organisations and international bureaucracy
PhD programme in social sciences
Institutional focus
The research group has a strong focus on European and EU institutions and strong interest on questions of institutional design, democracy and accountability of systems of governance, and how they impact on public governance processes and institutional change and continuity. Research focuses specifically on the changing role of political representatives and unelected office holders. This includes research on the structuring and governance of politico-administrative institutions, relationships between politics and administration, and the role of semi-public organisations such as contracted public services. The intellectual foundations of the group lie in a diverse fields of administrative sciences, political theory, organisational and institutional theory, international relations and theories of decision making and the policy-making process.
Governance and policy focus
Research focuses on governance systems, how they are structured, how they function, and their effects. Governance is understood as steering society through interactive and hierarchical processes towards collectively negotiated goals. This involves research on how EU institutions and policies intersect with member states, including the complex web of multi-level interactions between municipalities, regions, states and the supranational level. This also includes research on how the EU governs policy fields that cut across national borders, and how EU acts as an international policy actor. The research group conducts analyses on a wide range of policy areas, including for example external relations, development policy, energy policy, research and higher education, health, taxation, as well as, radicalism and popular dissent.
Selected research partners
- University of Oslo, ARENA Centre for European Studies, Norway
- University of Canberra, School of Government and Policy, Australia
- UC Berkeley, Peder Sather Centre for Advanced Studies
- University of Trento, Department of Political Science, Italy
- The German Development Institute, Germany
- Maastricht University, Department of Political Science, The Netherlands
- The German University of Public Administration, Speyer
- Leiden University, Department of Public Administration, The Netherlands
- University of Konstanz, Department of Political Science, Germany
- University of Utrecht, School of Governance, The Netherlands