Research Interests
Comparative Politics
International Politics
European Union
Western Europe
Research Description
Dr. Kourtikakis is interested in how political institutions, policies, norms and practices spread across political systems. His research has examined different mechanism of diffusion, such as social networks, the drafting of treaties, and electoral campaigns under the framework of governance theories. The empirical focus of his research is on the European Union. He has examined diffusion between the national and supranational levels of European Union governance, among EU member-states, and also between the EU and its partners around the world. Most recently he is working on a project comparing how the EU and China deploy diffusion mechanisms in their relations with their international partners, and he is participating in a collaborative project about how euroskeptic ideas spread among EU member-states.
Education
PhD, University of Pittsburgh (2007)
BA, University of Macedonia (1997)
Grants
US Department of Education Title VI grants (2018-2024)
Jean Monnet Center of Excellence grants (2015-2021)
European Union Center of Excellence grants (2011-2014)
Jean Monnet Module grant (2011)
Awards and Honors
Provost Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2024)
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching by Instructional Staff (2024)
Clarence A. Berdahl Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2017, 2021)
Award for "Best Paper in EU Governance" (with Ekaterina Turkina), European Communities Studies Association-Canada 9th Biennial Conference (Ottawa, Canada, 2012)
Courses Taught
PS 100 Introduction to Political Science
PS 282 Governing Globalization
PS 348 Government and Politics in Western Europe
PS 385 Politics of the European Union
PS 485 Politics of Transatlantic Relations
Additional Campus Affiliations
Teaching Associate Professor, Political Science
Teaching Associate Professor, European Union Center
Teaching Associate Professor, Center for Global Studies
Recent Publications
Kourtikakis, K., Turkina, E., & Postnikov, E. (2021). The structure of coordination: transatlantic policy networks and the mobilization of business and civil society. Journal of Common Market Studies, 59(3), 679-696. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13126
Kourtikakis, K., & Turkina, E. (2015). Civil Society Organizations in European Union External Relations: A Study of Interorganizational Networks in the Eastern Partnership and the Mediterranean. Journal of European Integration, 37(5), 587-609. https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2015.1034275
Turkina, E., & Kourtikakis, K. (2015). Keeping up with the Neighbours: Diffusion of Norms and Practices Through Networks of Employer and Employee Organizations in the Eastern Partnership and the Mediterranean. Journal of Common Market Studies, 53(5), 1163-1185. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.12243
Kourtikakis, K., & Pahre, R. D. (2014). Party On! Political Parties in European Foreign Economic Policies. Seton Hall Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, 2014(2), 35-47. https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/whith15&i=151
Kourtikakis, K. (2010). Imitation and supranational politics: Some lessons from the European Ombudsman and the European Court of Auditors. European Political Science Review, 2(1), 27-48. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773909990270