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Politics and Policy

Our research in this area examines politics and policy-making in the context of pressures for integration and fragmentation within the European Union (EU) and as a response to developments in the wider international system.

Politics and policy-making in Europe have become ever more complex: national politics and policies are impacted both by the increasing importance of the European Union and by the global system. Processes of ‘Europeanisation’ are tied to those of ‘globalisation’, prompting responses that question sovereignty, accountability, adaptability and inclusivity across different political levels.

We explore the policy challenges that arise for the EU from the recent euro-zone crisis, the increased flows of migrants and refugees from outside, the perceptions of stronger threats to foreign policy and security from developments on its doorstep and beyond. We analyse political responses – stemming, for example, from ‘BREXIT’; wider varieties of ‘euro-scepticism’; and new forms of ‘populism’. Our research links EI staff with colleagues across the LSE

Key research topics

  • EU institutional Politics and Governance
  • Crisis Politics in the European Union
  • Brexit
  • Democratic Deficit of the EU
  • Public Opinion, Elections and Politicization of the EU
  • Law, Politics and European Courts
  • The Politics of Europeanisation
  • Mobility, Migration and Integration
  • The Role of National Parliaments in the EU

Academic staff working in this area