PDF for print
Find calendar
| Title |
Mandatory course 1: International Civil Servants and Public Administration
|
| Semester |
E2025
|
| Master programme in |
International Politics and Governance
|
| Type of activity |
Course |
| Mandatory or elective |
Mandatory |
| Teaching language |
English
|
| Study regulation |
Read about the Master Programme and find the Study Regulations at ruc.dk |
| REGISTRATION AND STUDY ADMINISTRATIVE | |
| Registration |
You register for activities through stads selvbetjening during the announced registration period, which you can see on the Study administration homepage. When registering for courses, please be aware of the potential conflicts and overlaps between course and exam time and dates. The planning of course activities at Roskilde University is based on the recommended study programmes, which should not overlap. However, if you choose optional courses and/or study plans that goes beyond the recommended study programmes, an overlap of lectures or exam dates may occur depending on which courses you choose. |
| Number of participants |
|
| ECTS |
10
|
| Responsible for the activity |
Sevasti Chatzopoulou (seva@ruc.dk)
|
| Head of study |
Laust Schouenborg (lausts@ruc.dk)
|
| Teachers |
|
| Study administration |
ISE Registration & Exams (ise-exams@ruc.dk)
|
| Exam code(s) |
U60137
|
| ACADEMIC CONTENT | |
| Overall objective |
The course focuses on the role and position of the civil servant who either operates in an international environment or deals with international issues and problems at national or local levels. The course provides an in-depth understanding on how the international civil servant changes roles across different policy areas or levels of decision-making (local, national, regional, international) and thus acts as a manager, an executive, and a diplomat. This requires that the civil servant develops certain capacities and communication skill that differ from those of the national civil servant. Important questions addressed in the course are: Who are the people behind institutions and collective actors in in international policymaking? Which qualifications do they have, and which do they acquire? What challenges and opportunities they face? For this purpose, the course introduces theories and concepts on how we study the bureaucracy at both the national and international level. The course includes International Public Administration and Organisation theories, International Politics, diplomacy, and current advances and challenges in the study of international public servants. Moreover, the course provides methodological tools and practical knowledge in writing for a policy audience (e.g. writing policy briefs). The teaching consists primarily of lectures with the continuous interaction and involvement of the students in discussions and in the resolution of minor tasks. During the semester, the students must prepare one obligatory written assignments. In addition, a full-day interdisciplinary workshop is included with the other two courses of the semester. |
| Detailed description of content |
The course introduces theories and concepts on how we study bureaucracy at both the national and international level. The course includes International Public Administration and Organisation theories, International Politics, diplomacy, and current advances and challenges in the study of international public servants. Moreover, the course provides methodological tools and practical knowledge in writing for a policy audience (e.g., writing policy briefs). |
| Course material and Reading list |
Course material consists primarily of academic articles. In addition we will used chapters from the following suggested books:
|
| Overall plan and expected work effort |
Class teaching: 30 hours. Other: 85 hours including policy brief/ peer review/presentations/exercises. Preparation: 75 hours (5 hours per double session). Examination: 80 hours including repetition, policy brief and oral exam having as a point of departure the policy brief but expands to all the literature (theories) covered during the course. Total: 270 hours. |
| Format |
Campus |
| Evaluation and feedback |
The activity is evaluated regularly based on the study board's evaluation procedure. The responsible for the activity will be informed of any evaluation of the activity at the start of the semester. See link to the study board's evaluation practice here: https://intra.ruc.dk/fileadmin/assets/ise/Undervisning/Evaluation_procedures_at_ISE.pdf |
| Programme |
Block 1 Role of International Civil Servant • Lecture 1: Introduction to the International Civil Servant's role / Sevasti (Sevie) Chatzopoulou • Lecture 2: Civil servants in international organisations and their autonomy/ Kennet Lynggaard • Lecture 3: The role of Culture in International Civil Service/ Sevasti (Sevie) Chatzopoulou Block 2-International Civil Servant and Diplomacy • Lecture 4: Public Diplomacy/Thomas Paster • Lecture 5: The EU’s Diplomatic Service/Thomas Paster • Lecture 6: Diplomatic communication /Kennet Lynggaard • Lecture 7: International Election Monitoring/ Thomas Paster Block 3-International Civil Servant and Policy making • Lecture 8: International civil servants and policy making/ Kennet Lynggaard • Lecture 9: The International Civil Servant as Expert and Broker/Sevasti (Sevie) Chatzopoulou • Lecture 10: Information acquisition in the international civil service/Sevasti (Sevie) Chatzopoulou • Lecture 11: How to write a policy brief?/ Kennet Lyngaard • Lecture 12: Concluding & Experiences from a guest/ Sevasti (Sevie) Chatzopoulou |
| ASSESSMENT | |
| Overall learning outcomes |
|
| Prerequisites |
|
| Form of examination |
Individual oral exam based on a written product
The character limit of the written product is maximum9,600 characters, including spaces. The character limits include the cover, table of contents, bibliography, figures and other illustrations, but exclude any appendices. Time allowed for exam including time used for assessment: 30 minutes. The assessment is an overall assessment of the written product(s) and the subsequent oral examination. Permitted support and preparation materials for the oral exam: Outline on maximum one A4 size-page. Assessment: 7-point grading scale. Moderation: Internal co-assessor. |
| Form of Re-examination |
Samme som ordinær eksamen / same form as ordinary exam
|
| Type of examination in special cases |
|
| Examination and assessment criteria (implemented) |
Explain and assess the advantages and disadvantages of different theories for understanding international public administration Apply international public administration theory to specific empirical cases Compare, assess, and present alternative methods available to international civil servants in dealing with a concrete policy issue through a policy brief Unfold a variety of management methods and solutions and assess their feasibility within specific settings Identify and discuss challenges in managing international workplaces and assess strategies for addressing them. In this exam, the use of generative AI (GenAI) tools is allowed as per the university's guidelines for the use of AI. Specifically, the following points must be observed: • When using GenAI tools, you must include a description of the purpose of using GenAI and which GenAI are used and how they have used. The description is assessed the same way as other methodology sections regarding the use of relevant literature, course’s general learning objectives, and assessment criteria. • Text copied from GenAI chats must be quoted the same way as citations from other texts. The citations and your demonstrated ability to interpret, evaluate and critically assess them is part of the overall assessment of the exam. Please consider including the prompt in a footnote to the citation if you find it relevant to demonstrate your description and analysis of the subject matter. • Ordinary spell checking and other language suggestions as known from Word or other word processing programs are allowed without declaration. |
| Exam code(s) | |
| Last changed | 14/08/2025 |
Find calendar (1)
PDF for print (1)