Elena Escalante Block
The (de)politicisation of state aid policies and its impact on the EU’s legitimacy
Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics, Sciences Po Paris
ESR3 | elena.escalanteblock@sciencespo.fr
PhD project
My dissertation investigates when and how EU issues become politicised and depoliticised in Multilevel Governance (MLG). More specifically, the aim is to understand how state aid cases can serve as “trigger moments” in the politicisation/depoliticisation and legitimation/delegitimation of the European Union. The main research questions of my PhD thesis are: when and how do state aid cases become (de)politicised? And what is the effect of the politicisation of state aid cases on the legitimacy of the European Union?
About me
I have previously worked for two years as a Research Assistant at the Electoral Integrity Project. The project, which is based at Harvard University and the University of Sydney, studies the electoral integrity of countries around the world and analyses electoral conditions and malpractices. Both my work as a Research Assistant and my Masters degrees inspired me to pursue academia and study European politics, which is why I decided to apply and ultimately become a part of PLATO.
Education
- MRes in Politics and International Relations, Macquarie University
- MA in International Relations, University of Sydney
- Dual BA in Journalism and International Relations, University of Queensland
Nationality
- Australian and Venezuelan
Supervisors
- Colin Hay, CEE, Sciences Po Paris
- Chris Lord, ARENA Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo
