Example international political economy dissertation topic 4:

Whither now nationhood within the European Union?

Evaluating the present financial crisis engulfing the Eurozone from an IPE viewpoint, this dissertation questions whether individual national parliaments can remain as deciders of fiscal policy given the upheavals of the last three years. Noting the coalescence between state and supranational issues in areas of agriculture, defence, policing, and enlargement, it argues that – with, or without the UK – the Euro nations have now committed themselves in a practical political sense to fiscal union; for the most important key decisions relating to the ‘national’ economies of Spain and Greece are already made outside of their territorial boundaries. This is a dissertation the subject matter of which is fiercely contested, however, the study posits that a thorough understanding of the concepts of IPE show that the ‘point of no-return’ has already been reached.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Dodd, N. (2010). Money, law, sovereignty: Where does this crisis leave the state? European Consortium for Political Research – Standing Group on International Relations conference, 9-11 September 2010, Stockholm.
• Katsimi, M. and Moutos, T. (2010). ‘EMU and the Greek crisis: The political-economy perspective’. European Journal of Political Economy, vol. 26(4), pp. 568-576.
• Kickert, W. (2012). ‘State responses to the fiscal crisis in Britain, Germany and the Netherlands’. Public Management Review, vol. 14(3), pp. 299-309.