Debating Europe Towards the Critical Informed Citizen?

1. Introduction: The Puzzle of the Gap Between the EU and Its Citizens

Claudia Wiesner

2. Towards a Dynamic Understanding of Democracy in the EU: Politics, Politicisation and Debate

Claudia Wiesner

3. Rethinking EU Institutional Communication: Pathways to Democratic Legitimacy

Igor Vidačak and Ana Matan

4. Young People, Students and the EU: Critical Utilitarian Democrats

Cécile Robert, Willy Beauvallet, Kim O.K. Zilliacus, Niilo Kauppi, Ruzha Smilova and Kaloyan Velchev

5. Focus Group Research Design: Methodology, Standards, and Findings

Zhylien Kaja and Claudia Wiesner

6. Studying Student Perceptions on the EU in an International Learning Interpretative and Comparative Research Design

Claudia Wiesner

7. Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, and Slovenia: The Cases and the Context

Kaloyan Velchev, Igor Vidačak, Ana Matan, Kim O.K Zilliacus, Niilo Kauppi, Willy Beauvallet, Cécile Robert, Zhylien Kaja, Claudia Wiesner, Meta Novak, Damjan Lajh

8. Students as EU Citizens: Critical, Informed, Engaged, and Passive

Muriel C. Wenzel, Claudia Wiesner and Zhylien Kaja

9. Critical Informed Passive Citizens of a Normative Power Europe 2.0

Claudia Wiesner and Zhylien Kaja

10. Young Citizens’ Visions of EU Democracy: A Research Outlook

Kim O.K. Zilliacus, Ruzha Smilova, Niilo Kauppi, Kaloyan Velchev, Cécile Robert and Willy Beauvallet

Biography

Claudia Wiesner is a professor of political science at Fulda University of Applied Sciences, Germany, an honorary professor at University College London, and adjunct professor at Jyväskylä University, Finland. She directs the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence “Europe in the World” and the “Point Alpha Research Institute” (PARI), is principal investigator in several international research projects, and has been a visiting fellow at various international research institutions.

"No democracy without a demos, no demos without debates! Join Claudia Wiesner and the DebatEU team on a journey regarding what the quality of the debates between students in six European Member States tell us about the state of EU democracy. Supportive yet passively critical, openly utilitarian yet in demand for a more values-driven polity; an enlightening journey!"

Céline Belot, Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Sciences Po Grenoble, France

“How do those schooled in the ins and outs of European integration come to regard it?  Does familiarity breed affection, hostility or sober realism?  This is a very valuable study of what students think of the EU and why it matters.”

Jonathan White, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK