The contributions to this symposium document what has been happening in European politics in relation to the Bologna Process and the European Commission, focusing on the question of how harmonization is affecting political science. The contributions should send an alarm signal to political scientists about the effects of this process and its politics on their discipline. The introduction examines the main global and European developments and their more visible implications. The Symposium focuses on political science, although the Bologna Process does not differentiate between disciplines, Brussels treating political science as part of the broader category of ‘SSH’ (Social Sciences and Humanities).

This article advances the argument that when weighing up the strengths and weaknesses of the Bologna Process it is necessary to incorporate the perspective of academics, and to discuss whether and how the Bologna Process can be supportive of academics as they adjust to changing notions of academic autonomy in knowledge societies.

The Bologna Process is advancing at full speed, although the unintended effects it is causing are complained about everywhere. Yet, we do not witness unintended effects alone, but a fundamental societal change that embraces more than is widely recognised. This change is geared to replacing the occupational professional model of mediation between education and employment with the market model. Against the backdrop of the traditional German focus on occupations, that change appears as particularly radical.

This article is concerned primarily with the relationship between academic ideas and the ‘real world’ of politics. Disciplinary histories often assume a one-way influence of ideas, that of the academy into political practice. This article reverses that relationship and explores the way in which real-world ideas about politics have the potential to influence the way in which the academy develops, and the kind of responses it might offer. The primary focus is upon England and the marketisation of higher education; it asks are we burning all our books? This article also raises broader questions about the relationship between academia and that which it observes, with specific reference to political science.

Understanding the Bologna Process is important, because its reforms (curriculum reform mixed with funding and governing reforms) have an effect on the discipline through the European Higher Education Area and European Research Area. The article discusses the state of the Bologna Process and its contradictions, the links between education and research and the implications for political science as a discipline.

Many European cities have significant shares of immigrants among their inhabitants. Their unequal access to the political life of the cities, and the country overall, is a major democratic deficit. This introduction to the symposium emphasises the need to consider immigrants as actors in politics and explains the specific relevance of the local level. While the focus of the symposium is on European countries with a longer history of immigration, the introduction also outlines key features of immigrants’ political rights and participation in other parts of Europe.

We examine how different formal citizenship regimes fare in achieving the political inclusion of immigrants and their children by looking at voting turnout in local elections. We analyse survey data from four European cities that grant voting rights to foreigners but are located in countries with contrasting rules for access to formal citizenship. Local voting gaps are larger where citizenship rules are more restrictive, which suggests that citizenship regimes have long-lasting effects on political inclusion.

This article examines the trade-offs between social and political integration by analysing migrant political representation on municipal councils in Britain and France. The argument is that social integration may allow migrants to interact with the mainstream population but it also reduces the capacity to form effective group mobilisation. In turn, less mobilisation reduces the likelihood of electing co-ethnics. In comparison, social segregation may increase separation from mainstream society but it also increases effective group mobilisation. In turn, more group mobilisation increases the capacity to elect co-ethnics.

The article investigates some consequences of immigration on urban politics. On the basis of original data, it first discusses to what extent the councils of big German cities reflect the new immigration-related diversity of the population. Second, it asks to what extent the elected immigrant officials mirror the immigrant population. The article aims to contribute to a better understanding of the selectivity of political careers in diverse societies by addressing immigration-related factors.

This contribution investigates immigrants’ access to elected office in two different political contexts: Amsterdam and Paris. I look at the socio-demographic background and at the political experiences of immigrant councillors and explore what may have favoured their careers. I further consider the role of the electoral and political context in facilitating immigrants’ access to politics. This context plays an important role in immigrants’ rate of access to politics, but similarities exist in their pre-electoral experience.

Since 2003, the European Commission has produced analytical documents (called Impact Assessments, IAs) to appraise its policy proposals. This appraisal process is the cornerstone of the regulatory reform policy of the European Union. Previous research has been concerned with the quality of the IAs in terms of evidence-based policy, usages of economic analysis and other standards of smart regulation. Instead, we move to a different perspective. We draw on the narrative policy framework to explore IAs as a text and discursive instrument. Conceptually, insights from discursive institutionalism are used to explore narratives as tools of coordination within complex organizations such as the European Commission, and as communicative tools through which policy-makers seek to enhance the plausibility, acceptability and, ultimately, legitimacy for their policy proposals. Empirically, we consider a sample of IAs that differ by originating DGs, legal instrument, and level of saliency. The findings show that both in coordinating and communicating policy, the European bureaucracy projects a certain definition of its identity via the narratives it deploys. The Commission may use IAs to produce evidence-based policy, but it also an active narrator. It engages with IAs to provide a presentation of self, to establish EU norms and values, and to create consensus around policy proposals by using causal plots, doomsday scenarios, and narrative dramatization.

Popular music can be used to encourage active political discussions, increase understanding of political concepts and encourage student-centred learning on subjects with which students may unwittingly already be familiar via their iPods™. While some faculty may already be using music in the domestic political context, music can also be utilised in international and comparative political science classes as well. This article suggests that music and politics can be evaluated in four approaches: Music as ‘cause or outcome’ of political processes, music as ‘mirror’ revealing what we already believe about politics being reflected back to us, music as ‘data’ as the music itself, or the manner in which music is consumed, affects how an audience interprets and responds to it and, lastly, music as ‘constitutive’, in that, music constitutes norms, values and identities. This article suggests that students actually do become more engaged and have a better understanding of political concepts through the use of music in the classroom. The article also provides some useful advice for utilising music in the classroom to increase student engagement, critical thinking and better understanding of topics covered in class.