Schmidt Presents on European Democracy in Seminar
On February 24, 2024, Vivien Schmidt, Jean Monnet Professor Emerita of European Integration and Professor of International Relations and Political Science, delivered a presentation entitled, “How European Democracy Works in Practice and Who Decides What – Both Formally and Informally,” as a part of her participation in the recent Power to the People webinar series.
In her presentation, Schmidt highlighted how democracy functions in the European Union (EU) in practice, covering the three main institutional actors and their representative interests. She traced the EU legislative process, outlining the different methods by which laws are created and passed. She also discussed how citizens can pressure the EU from the outside in order to lobby for new legislation.
You can access the webinar in full here.
The presentation was also recorded in a podcast format. You can access the podcast in full here.
Vivien Schmidt is a Professor of International Relations and Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and was the first Director of BU’s Center for the Study of Europe, housed at the Pardee School. Schmidt’s research focuses on European political economy, institutions, democracy, and political theory—in particular on the importance of ideas and discourse in political analysis. Read more about Professor Schmidt on her faculty profile.