European Studies (ES), the academic field that deals with European issues in general and European integration in particular, is controversial by nature. For some, European integration is but an ideology. Others believe it to be an ‘n’ of 1 that cannot be compared or imitated. For the majority, European integration is a moving target and an unfinished undertaking, whereas a growing number of academics and pundits speak no longer of integration but governance. Notwithstanding these epistemological and methodological disagreements, top universities in Europe and around the world have put in place departments and programmes devoted to the study of the historical developments, institutions, processes, policies, and challenges of the EU and the politics and interdependence of its member-states. No other regional organization has won such a place of honour in academic curricula. In this symposium, we are interested in scrutinizing how ES have been studied and taught outside Europe. We have collected contributions from distinguished scholars from six significant world areas in order to ensure a balanced geographical spread of our insight to these academic developments: the United States, Russia, China, Australia (and New Zealand), Israel (and the Middle East) and (Southern) Latin America.

This article explores the institutional development of European studies in the United States. We show the extent to which the study of European integration reflects the deep roots that sustain the vitality and strength of the transatlantic relationship since the end of World War II. Outside Europe, the United States is still the country where studies on European integration have the most prominent place in the research agenda of scholars.

This article analyses how European studies were introduced in Australia, examining teaching, research and research training. It surveys policy and curriculum developments since the introduction of the study of the European Union (EU) in the Australian university curriculum in the early 1990s. It profiles Australian research on the EU. Australia's position – and that of New Zealand – in the Asia Pacific region has provided a useful context to understand the EU as an international actor and as a context for comparative regional integration.

This article shows the emergence and development of European Union studies in Israel from its inception until the present, with a secondary focus on the rest of the Middle East. Different aspects are examined, such as developments in education, research and professional meetings. As such, we can draw meaningful conclusions about the fundamental strengths and weaknesses marking this field in Israel.

In spite of the strong historical links that connect Europe with South America, EU studies are underdeveloped in the latter region. This article takes stock of how European politics in general, and European integration in particular, are studied and taught in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay in order to assess such paradox and evaluate its prospects.

The article analyses the development of European Studies (ES) research and education in Russia and assesses various external influences in that process. Although ES were part of the cultural and academic agenda during the Soviet Union period, it was only with the end of the Cold War and the intensification of European Union–Russian bilateral relations that ES began to raise significant interest in the Russian academia, leading to the proliferation of research and teaching activities, and later to the institutionalization of ES as a separate subject area through specific educational programmes.

This article gives an overview of European studies (ES) in China and its evolution over the last three decades. It includes a brief account of the institutional build up of the academic field, an introduction to major research trends and a discussion of its multi-disciplinary nature, particularly the political science/international relations aspect. Hopefully, the article will inform the reader of not only the general state of ES in China, but also the development of Chinese political science in general.

This paper emphasises the importance of assessing measurement equivalence when using cross-national and longitudinal surveys. We illustrate how to test for measurement equivalence using multiple group confirmatory factor analysis and clarify under what conditions both meaningful comparisons of construct means and relationships between constructs are possible. Using data from the International Social Survey Programme, empirical applications dealing with attitudes towards welfare policies are provided to illustrate the procedure.

Explaining to students what the European Union (EU) is and how it works can be challenging. Yet, the diffusion and success of ‘EU studies’ push instructors to develop innovative methods to make the complex EU decision-making accessible to students. Role-playing may be helpful and the EU provides ample opportunities of simulating various levels of policy-making. This article presents a format for a semester-long, role-playing simulation in which students act as EU Commission's staff employees.

A growing majority of the world's citizens lives in metropolitan areas. The question of how these areas can be governed has been the subject of a long-running scientific and political debate. This introductory article retraces the main arguments in this debate and argues that it has gained a new scope. Metropolitan governance is no longer a question of local interest limited to single metropolitan areas, but increasingly relates to changes and developments in the organisation of the wider state apparatus.

The impressive urban growth over the last decades has made it clear that cities, particularly large metropolitan areas are here to stay for the foreseeable future. However, they will remain a problem for government as their size makes them difficult and expensive to run. This article argues that large metropolises need large scale governments that can perform strategic area-wide functions, as well as coordinate and integrate public services.

Urban growth and metropolitanization have characterised the spatial development of Spain in the second-half of the twentieth century. However, there is as yet no stabilised institutional model of how to respond to the governance challenges that Spanish metropolitan areas face. The article explores the organisation of metropolitan governance in Madrid, Spain's largest metropolitan area. It argues that state reforms in the wake of democratisation, EU accession and increasing international competition have led to the establishment of the Autonomous Community of Madrid as a strong metropolitan government.

Based on a review of experiences in Lyons, Stuttgart and London, this article reflects upon the implications of metropolitanisation for democracy. It examines the institutional set-up of metropolitan authorities, the election procedures of representatives as well as dynamics of decision-making within them. In spite of contrasted institutional settings, political logics and territorial interest representation are present in policy-making at the metropolitan level to a strikingly similar extent. This results in power-sharing strategies among the major political forces and a move away from majoritarian towards more consensual patterns of decision-making.