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Dr Angela Bourne

Contact Details

Email: a.bourne@dundee.ac.uk
Tel: + 44 (0) 1382 388628

Dr Bourne is convenor of Politics and International Relations. She began her academic career in Australia, studying a BA (Hons) in government and journalism at the University of Queensland. She later completed an MA in International Law and International Relations at Lancaster University, and a PhD at the University of Bristol. She was employed as a lecturer in European politics at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth before coming to Dundee.

Her main teaching responsibilities are a level three module, European Union Politics, and a level four module, Politicasl Extremism and Dissent in Europe. She also teaches the Spanish politics section of the level two Comparative Politics module. At postgraduate level, Dr Bourne teaches on Euroscepticism, Europeanisation, European identity and secession in international law.

Research

Dr Bourne is a member of the Centre for the Study of European Political Parties. Her current research focuses on the illegalisation of political parties in liberal democracies. The research mostly focuses on rationales for banning parties in Europe, particularly in Spain (Basque separatist party Batasuna), Germany (far right and communist parties) and Turkey (especially Islamic parties). Official rationales for banning parties usually relate to purported threats to national security, public order, the democratic system or fundamental freedoms. Her research seeks to look beyond these official rationales, however, to explore alternative explanations relating to political competition imperatives and the successes and failures of alternatives like ostracisicm, electoral system manipulation and restrictions on extremists in public life. The research also explores proscription of political parties in the context of democratisation and whether particular constructions of obligations for political tolerance affect the likelihood that democracies will ban parties. In September to December 2010, she was a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Constitutional Law, University of Seville, studying the illegalisation of the Basque separatist party Batasuna, which was banned for its links with the terrorist group ETA.

Her research interests initially focused on issues of regional governance and European integration, with particular attention to the impact of European integration on politics in the Basque Country. This was the topic of a book and several articles. She has also made several contributions to books on European integration, including a co-edited book addressing theoretical and empirical developments in studies of the European Union.

Teaching

Undergraduate Modules

Postgraduate

Publications

Books

The European Union and the Accommodation of Basque Difference in Spain (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2008)

Advances in European Union Studies, ed. with Cini, M. (Palgrave, 2005) [including 'Introduction: Defining Boundaries and Identifying Trends in European Union Studies']

The EU and Territorial Politics Within Member States: Conflict or Cooperation? ed. (Brill Academic Publishers, 2004) [including chapters: 'The Domestic Politics of Regionalism and European Integration: Introduction' and 'The EU, Conflict and Co-operation within Member States: Conclusion']

Articles

'Democratization and the Illegalization of Political Parties in Europe', Democratization (forthcoming).

'Europe, Constitutional Debates and the Spanish State of Autonomies', Perspectives on European Politics and Society, 9:3 (2008), 283-300

'Bringing Europe Closer to the Citizen?: Regions and the European Convention', Regional and Federal Studies, 15:1 (2006), 1-20

'The Impact of European Integration on Regional Power', Journal of Common Market Studies, 41:4 (2003), 597-620

'Defending Basque Taxation Devolution in the European Union: The Price of European Integration', International Journal of Iberian Studies, 15:2 (2003), 103-114

'European Integration and Conflict Resolution in the Basque Country, Northern Ireland and Cyprus', Perspectives on European Politics and Society, 4:3 (2003)

Others

Dr Bourne has also contributed to chapters in Cini, M. (ed) European Union Politics (2003 and 2007); Gowland, D.; Dunphy, R. and Lythe, C. (2006) The European Mosaic; Little, R. and Wickham-Jones, M. (eds) (2000) New Labour's Foreign Policy: A new moral crusade? (Manchester University Press); Jahrbuch des Föderalismus 2003.

Suggested Areas for Postgraduate Supervision

Dr Bourne would be happy to hear from people interested in studying: