Media Policy, Democratization and EU Enlargement

Academic Program

Master of Public Administration (2 years)

Master of Arts in Public Policy (Mundus MAPP), Erasmus Mundus

Master of Arts in Public Policy

Instructor: Amy Brouillette 

Credits: 2.0

Course description
Fall Term - Year One and Two Elective Course

This course examines the broader relationship between media and democracy, looking specifically at the role of media policy reform within the context of Europeanization and EU enlargement. The course will focus on exploring the use of media policy reform as instrument of democratization in the process of EU accession and integration, along with the complexities and challenges of achieving convergence of national media policies and media freedom norms within an enlarging European community. We will review the key theoretical concepts of role of media reform in democratic transitions and in post-conflict state building, as a framework for understanding approaches to media policy reform as a mechanism of European integration. We will also examine the more practical standards and processes of media reform efforts, including the common international legal norms of media freedom required of all member states, as well as the roles and limitations of different international bodies in ensuring that these standards are met. The course will draw on case studies of ongoing challenges of media reform efforts in candidate countries, using examples from Serbia, Macedonia and Turkey, as well as similar examples from new-member states, using examples from Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. Finally, the course will address the current policy debates around the more key issue of how to safeguard media freedom and pluralism at the EU-wide level.