This seminar tackles the urgency of climate action from a fresh perspective. It provides lessons learned from observing international stalemate and lack of political will, and it invites looking forward to disruptive transformations ahead. Rather than joining a chorus of sceptic voices about multiple barriers and systemic failures it suggests analytical tools, principles, and perspectives to look ahead. Integrating climate policy with sustainable resources is seen as pivotal to overcome siloes of single indicators and pure sectorial responses. This is embedded in a global governance approach that seeks to balance the need for multilateral agreement with the opportunities of a more nuanced bottom-up multi-stakeholder approach with regional clubs. It is here where the ocean-climate nexus and a blue economy as well as circular economy approaches would fit. It is thus system thinking and transformations driven by new alliances that are considered key to future skillsets for a next generation of leaders (i.e. You!).

Selected readings (copies of 2 + 3 available on demand); See also blogs published at my previous university UCL here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/together-climate-action
1. Michael Grubb (2014) Planetary Economics. Energy, climate change and the three domains of sustainable development. With Jean-Charles Hourcade and Karten Neuhof. Free complimentary version here: https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Planetary-Economics-FULL-Complimentary-Version.pd
2. GENG Yong, Sarkis J., Bleischwitz R (2019) Globalize the circular economy, Nature 565: 153 – 155
3. Andrews-Speed, Philip et al. (2014) Waste, Want or War? The global resource nexus and the struggle for land, energy, food, water and minerals. Earthscan/Routledge

Healthcare systems account for an average of 10% of GDP spending in EU countries. As such, spending on healthcare it is one of the most important social policy items in the national budgets in Europe. The importance of well-functioning healthcare systems has become more evident than ever during the current COVID019 pandemic. But, obviously, also in less dramatic circumstances healthcare systems are crucial to the well-being of the population. Yet, EU healthcare systems differ greatly in how they are financed and regulated, and how provision of services is organized. As a result, the ability to address the needs of the population also varies. In this seminar, we will comparatively study the EU healthcare systems to understand these differences, and the reasons behind them. We will use interdisciplinary lenses and perspectives from different policy fields to address – among others – the following topics:
• Main dimensions of healthcare systems: financing, provision and regulation
• Historical developments in healthcare systems in Western, Southern and Central-Eastern Europe
• Political economy of healthcare: what shapes health(care) policy?
• Healthcare professionals: professional organizations, provider levels, the role of doctors in regulating healthcare systems
• Access to healthcare: regulatory aspects and financial incentives shaping entry and reception of care as well as the actual ability of patients to avail themselves of healthcare provision
• Unmet health needs in European healthcare systems
• Patients’ preferences and satisfaction
• The role of the European Union in national healthcare systems, including in the COVID-19 pandemic
• Healthcare across borders: cross-border care for patients; migration of healthcare professionals and brain drain
The seminar is organized in monthly block meetings and will take place online via zoom. Readings and course material will be made available on Stud.IP.
Depending on their needs, individual students can earn between 3 and 9 ECTS for the seminar. The course requirements will be adjusted accordingly.

In the seminar we will examine the development of the welfare state in the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). We will start by defining the CEE region and looking at the similarities and differences (historical, cultural, political, economic) across CEE countries. We will then focus on the pre-1989 communist welfare state, as well as the unfolding and impact of the post-1989 transition. Then we will discuss the post-1989 welfare arrangements in the region and the actors involved in shaping the policy-making and reforms. The impact of Europeanization processes, as well as gender aspects will also be considered. The non-exhaustive list of topics includes:
1. Welfare state: the emergence, typologies, and challenges
2. Definition of CEE; political, cultural, economic diversity of the region; 1945-1989 welfare arrangements; legacies
3. 1989 change; a triple transition; internal vs. external factors and actors shaping transition paths
4. Social costs of the transition – unemployment, health, demography, public opinion
5. Emergence of new ‘varieties of capitalism’ in CEE; the role of the state and trade unions in CEE; employment relations
6. Welfare state and gender in the transition process
7. Policies: pensions, healthcare, long-term care, labour market activation, family benefits and services
8. EU enlargement; social acquis; conditionality; compliance; impact of the acquis on social policy in CEE
9. New world(s) of welfare in CEE.

The seminar is organized in monthly block meetings and will take place online via zoom. Readings and course material will be made available on Stud.IP.
Depending on their needs, individual students can earn between 3 and 9 ECTS for the seminar. The course requirements will be adjusted accordingly.

The European Union is defined as a legal community. In fact, law and courts have fundamentally shaped and continue to shape European integration. This undergraduate seminar addresses students that wish to understand how and why law and courts matter for the polity, politics and policy of the EU. In the first section of the course, we will critically examine the purported function of courts, such as resolving disputes or enforcing legal norms. We will then turn to the role of the supranational European Court of Justice and its interaction with ordinary courts in the Member States, reflecting on the importance of their interaction for constructing a legal order in the EU. Subsequently, we will deal with the role of constitutional courts and reflect on the delicate balance between EU law and constitutional law. In a next step, we will discuss the emergence of a so-called European constitutional network composed of national constitutional courts, the CJEU and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). In a final section of this course, we will apply the acquired knowledge to constitutional politics and the current crisis of the rule of law in selected EU Member States.

Healthcare systems account for an average of 10% of GDP spending in EU countries. As such, spending on healthcare it is one of the most important social policy items in the national budgets in Europe. The importance of well-functioning healthcare systems has become more evident than ever during the current COVID019 pandemic. But, obviously, also in less dramatic circumstances healthcare systems are crucial to the well-being of the population. Yet, EU healthcare systems differ greatly in how they are financed and regulated, and how provision of services is organized. As a result, the ability to address the needs of the population also varies. In this seminar, we will comparatively study the EU healthcare systems to understand these differences, and the reasons behind them. We will use interdisciplinary lenses and perspectives from different policy fields to address – among others – the following topics:
• Main dimensions of healthcare systems: financing, provision and regulation
• Historical developments in healthcare systems in Western, Southern and Central-Eastern Europe
• Political economy of healthcare: what shapes health(care) policy?
• Healthcare professionals: professional organizations, provider levels, the role of doctors in regulating healthcare systems
• Access to healthcare: regulatory aspects and financial incentives shaping entry and reception of care as well as the actual ability of patients to avail themselves of healthcare provision
• Unmet health needs in European healthcare systems
• Patients’ preferences and satisfaction
• The role of the European Union in national healthcare systems, including in the COVID-19 pandemic
• Healthcare across borders: cross-border care for patients; migration of healthcare professionals and brain drain
The seminar is organized in monthly block meetings and will take place online via zoom. Readings and course material will be made available on Stud.IP.
Depending on their needs, individual students can earn between 3 and 9 ECTS for the seminar. The course requirements will be adjusted accordingly.

In the seminar we will examine the development of the welfare state in the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). We will start by defining the CEE region and looking at the similarities and differences (historical, cultural, political, economic) across CEE countries. We will then focus on the pre-1989 communist welfare state, as well as the unfolding and impact of the post-1989 transition. Then we will discuss the post-1989 welfare arrangements in the region and the actors involved in shaping the policy-making and reforms. The impact of Europeanization processes, as well as gender aspects will also be considered. The non-exhaustive list of topics includes:
1. Welfare state: the emergence, typologies, and challenges
2. Definition of CEE; political, cultural, economic diversity of the region; 1945-1989 welfare arrangements; legacies
3. 1989 change; a triple transition; internal vs. external factors and actors shaping transition paths
4. Social costs of the transition – unemployment, health, demography, public opinion
5. Emergence of new ‘varieties of capitalism’ in CEE; the role of the state and trade unions in CEE; employment relations
6. Welfare state and gender in the transition process
7. Policies: pensions, healthcare, long-term care, labour market activation, family benefits and services
8. EU enlargement; social acquis; conditionality; compliance; impact of the acquis on social policy in CEE
9. New world(s) of welfare in CEE.

The seminar is organized in monthly block meetings and will take place online via zoom. Readings and course material will be made available on Stud.IP.
Depending on their needs, individual students can earn between 3 and 9 ECTS for the seminar. The course requirements will be adjusted accordingly.

In this seminar, we will discuss the democratic linkage of public opinion and public policy from multiple perspectives. In times of increasing political apathy and populism, politicians are frequently accused of neglecting the public will. But how are public opinion and policy-making related? Do political decisions favor any social group over the other? What do policymakers do to learn about public opinion? And what role does public opinion play in policy discourses? We will discuss theoretical and empirical research linking public opinion and policy-making and its democratic implications. We will learn about different ways to analyze the link between opinion and policy, including both case studies and comparative research.

One of the most recognizable examples of morality policy regulation, the issue of access to abortion remains controversial in most societies. It has been sparking popular mobilization in Europe and the Americas, engaging both pro-abortion as well as anti-abortion activists. While most countries have pursued a road to permissiveness in the last decades (Nebel and Hurka 2014), including Ireland and Argentina, some countries (like Poland) and US states (like Arkansas and Texas) have re-introduced restrictions on access to abortion, effectively banning the procedure (see Calkin and Kaminska 2021). The most recent developments in the USA suggest that even more restrictions on abortion access might be introduced there, following the Supreme Court decision. Moreover, countries have displayed different policy responses to the COVID pandemic: in some national contexts access to abortion has been facilitated while other countries have imposed restrictions.
In this seminar, we will discuss the issues behind morality policy regulation. We will examine how access to abortion has been regulated in selected European and South-American countries as well as in the US, by tracing the developments in abortion governance in comparative perspective.
We will look into the role of different factors and actors in liberalizing and restricting access to abortion: courts, social movements, health professionals, religious institutions (mainly Catholic Church), and – in historical perspective – of the communist and fascist ideologies. Transnational aspects, including cross-border abortion trails and the role of transnational organizations and networks in providing and restricting access to abortion, will also be considered. Finally, we will discuss how the COVID pandemic influenced access to abortion, both within and across national borders.
The seminar is organized in monthly block meetings and will take place online via zoom. Readings and course material will be made available on Stud.IP.
Depending on their needs, individual students can earn between 3 and 9 ECTS for the seminar. The course requirements will be adjusted accordingly.

Text mining is a process of information retrieval from (structured or unstructured) textual data. It is widely used by academics, government agencies, and industry professionals to understand human behavior, identify community needs, and improve customer service, among others. This course is designed to introduce the basics of text mining as a powerful research tool with a broad range of applications. We will cover principles of research design and research ethics as they apply to text mining, and we will review the major methodologies involved, such as unsupervised and supervised text classification.

(Contact: Dr. Nikolitsa Grigoropoulou, E-Mail: nikolitsa.grigoropoulou@uni-bremen.de, Unicom Building R 9.1120, Mary-Somerville-Strasse 9, 28359 Bremen)