How To Democratize The European Union And Why Bother

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How to Democratize the European Union-- and why Bother?

Author : Philippe C. Schmitter
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 9780847699056
Total Pages : 166 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (99 download)

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Book Synopsis How to Democratize the European Union-- and why Bother? by : Philippe C. Schmitter

Download or read book How to Democratize the European Union-- and why Bother? written by Philippe C. Schmitter and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2000 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A contradictory creation indeed, the European Union has most of the institutions of a modern democracy, yet it does not function as one. Moreover, its growing scope of activity and supranational decision making processes are undermining the legitimacy of democracy in its member states. Much has been written about this double "democratic deficit," but surprisingly little thought has been given to what to do about it--short of drafting and ratifying a new federal constitution. In this provocative book, Philippe C. Schmitter explores both the possibility and the desirability of democratizing the EU. He argues that as a "non-state" and a "non nation" it will have to invent new forms of citizenship, representation, and decisionmaking if it is ever to democratize itself. The author also contends that the timing and political context work against a full-scale constitutionalization of the process. He proposes a number of modest (and some less modest) reforms that could improve the situation in the near future and eventually lead to a genuine Euro-democracy.

How to Democratize Europe

Author : Stéphanie Hennette
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674239628
Total Pages : 225 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (742 download)

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Book Synopsis How to Democratize Europe by : Stéphanie Hennette

Download or read book How to Democratize Europe written by Stéphanie Hennette and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2019-05-20 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An all-star cast of scholars and politicians from Europe and America propose and debate the creation of a new European parliament with substantial budgetary and legislative power to solve the crisis of governance in the Eurozone and promote social and fiscal justice and public investment. The European Union is struggling. The rise of Euroskeptic parties in member states, economic distress in the south, the migrant crisis, and Brexit top the news. But deeper structural problems may be a greater long-term peril. Not least is the economic management of the Eurozone, the nineteen countries that use the Euro. How can this be accomplished in a way generally acceptable to members, given a political system whose structures are routinely decried for a lack of democratic accountability? How can the EU promote fiscal and social justice while initiating the long-term public investments that Europe needs to overcome stagnation? These are the problems a distinguished group of European and American scholars set out to solve in this short but valuable book. Among many longstanding grievances is the charge that Eurozone policies serve large and wealthy countries at the expense of poorer nations. It is also unclear who decides economic policy, how the interests of diverse member states are balanced, and to whom the decision-makers are accountable. The four lead authors—Stéphanie Hennette, Thomas Piketty, Guillaume Sacriste, and Antoine Vauchez—describe these and other problems, and respond with a draft treaty establishing a parliament for economic policy, its members drawn from national parliaments. We then hear from invited critics, who express support, objections, or alternative ideas. How to Democratize Europe offers a chance to observe how major thinkers view some of the Continent’s most pressing issues and attempt to connect democratic reform with concrete changes in economic and social policies.

Democratizing the European Union

Author : Catherine Hoskyns
Publisher : Transaction Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1412821584
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (128 download)

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Book Synopsis Democratizing the European Union by : Catherine Hoskyns

Download or read book Democratizing the European Union written by Catherine Hoskyns and published by Transaction Publishers. This book was released on with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract:

Democratizing the European Union

Author : Catherine Hoskyns
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 9781138522190
Total Pages : 224 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (221 download)

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Book Synopsis Democratizing the European Union by : Catherine Hoskyns

Download or read book Democratizing the European Union written by Catherine Hoskyns and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-10-02 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The European Union's "democratic deficit" and ways that might be found to resolve it are hot issues in both academic debate and practical politics. Democratizing the European Union offers a fresh approach to this subject by bringing together a diverse range of authors who have been actively involved either in analyzing the activities of the European Union or participating in them.The contributors go beyond a primarily institutional approach by highlighting issues having to do with values, participation, and exclusion. Collectively this volume also transcends the limitations of abstract theory. Embracing a range of perspectives, and including discussions of major contemporary challenges, such as enlargement and economic and monetary union, this book contains a detailed analysis of the response of New Labour to the democratization debate. The contributions include: Sue Cohen, "Social Solidarity in the Delors Period"; Sverker Gustavsson, "Reconciling Suprastatism and Accountability: A View from Sweden"; Stefano Fella, "A Europe of the Peoples? New Labour and Democratizing the EU"; John Lambert and Catherine Hoskyns, "How Democratic is the European Parliament?"; Valerio Lintner, "Controlling Monetary Union"; Mary Kaldor, "Eastern Enlargement and Democracy"; Richard Kuper, "Democratization: A Constitutionalizing Process"; and Catherine Hoskyns, "Democratizing the EU: Evidence and Argument."Democratizing the European Union is essential reading for all those with an interest in the EU and broader questions of democracy. It is also particularly useful for students of European Studies and practitioners involved in EU policymaking and lobbying.

Democracy and the European Union

Author : Andreas Follesdal
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 3662036223
Total Pages : 309 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (62 download)

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Book Synopsis Democracy and the European Union by : Andreas Follesdal

Download or read book Democracy and the European Union written by Andreas Follesdal and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-11-11 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The European Union is a new subject for theories of legitimacy, posing fundamental questions to the established concepts and principles of democratic theory. General compliance and popular acceptance and respect for European law is at stake. The volume addresses the main challenges of the European Union to democratic theory. The legitimacy of such transnational institutions born by political integration has so far received some but scant attention. The mere existence of the Union proves that the sovereign state cannot remain the sole focus of normative reflection. Indeed, the very conception of sovereignty is at stake. The present volume combines political science and normative political theory to offer concepts, arguments and criteria that further these debates, addressing problems of principle.

Old "foundations" and New "rules" for an Enlarged European Union

Author : Philippe C. Schmitter
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 36 pages
Book Rating : 4.F/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Old "foundations" and New "rules" for an Enlarged European Union by : Philippe C. Schmitter

Download or read book Old "foundations" and New "rules" for an Enlarged European Union written by Philippe C. Schmitter and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Participatory Governance

Author : Jürgen Grote
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 3663110036
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (631 download)

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Book Synopsis Participatory Governance by : Jürgen Grote

Download or read book Participatory Governance written by Jürgen Grote and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-11-11 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Während der Governance-Begriff wissenschaftlich als konsolidiert gelten dürfte, gibt es Probleme bei der praktischen Umsetzung der mit ihm verbundenen Idee. Das englischsprachige Buch misst einige der im "Whitebook on Governance" der EU-Kommission angesprochenen Problemfelder aus und trägt so zur Operationalisierung des Begriffes bei.

Veto Power

Author : Jonathan Slapin
Publisher : University of Michigan Press
ISBN 13 : 0472027751
Total Pages : 185 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (72 download)

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Book Synopsis Veto Power by : Jonathan Slapin

Download or read book Veto Power written by Jonathan Slapin and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2011-10-05 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This is a terrific book. The questions that Slapin asks about intergovernmental conferences (IGCs) in the European Union are extraordinarily important and ambitious, with implications for the EU and for international cooperation more generally. Furthermore, Slapin's theorizing of his core questions is rigorous, lucid, and accessible to scholarly readers without extensive formal modeling background . . . This book is a solid, serious contribution to the literature on EU studies." ---Mark Pollack, Temple University "An excellent example of the growing literature that brings modern political science to bear on the politics of the European Union." ---Michael Laver, New York University Veto rights can be a meaningful source of power only when leaving an organization is extremely unlikely. For example, small European states have periodically wielded their veto privileges to override the preferences of their larger, more economically and militarily powerful neighbors when negotiating European Union treaties, which require the unanimous consent of all EU members. Jonathan B. Slapin traces the historical development of the veto privilege in the EU and how a veto---or veto threat---has been employed in treaty negotiations of the past two decades. As he explains, the importance of veto power in treaty negotiations is one of the features that distinguishes the EU from other international organizations in which exit and expulsion threats play a greater role. At the same time, the prominence of veto power means that bargaining in the EU looks more like bargaining in a federal system. Slapin's findings have significant ramifications for the study of international negotiations, the design of international organizations, and European integration.

Subnational Democracy in the European Union

Author : John Loughlin
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191544701
Total Pages : 436 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (915 download)

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Book Synopsis Subnational Democracy in the European Union by : John Loughlin

Download or read book Subnational Democracy in the European Union written by John Loughlin and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2001-04-05 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the result of a research project carried out for the Committee of the Regions and analyses the 'state of play' of democratic practice at the subnational level in all of the European Member states. Its initial hypothesis was that liberal democracy is closely associated with the rise of the nation state in the 19th century. The nation state, however, has been significantly changing under the impact of various forces including globalization and regionalization, internal reforms of the public administration system such as privatization and deregulation, and the emergence of regions and local authorities as actors in their own rights. these changes pose challenges for the practice of democracy and, in particular, for its expression at the regional and local level. The book deals with the theoretical implications of these changes in terms of the changing nature of the state and new regionalism. However, one of the key findings is that there is no one uniform meaning of democracy across member states and there are variations even within a single state depending on whether the national or subnational levels are considered. Each country chapter gives the historical and philosophical background to the concept of democracy in each country. There is also an exposition of the institutional expression of democracy at the different levels. With regard to the practice of democracy at the subnational level, the role of pressure groups and policy networks is examined as well as the role of political parties. There is a survey of critiques of subnational democracy. Finally, there is a survey of innovative approaches to improving regional and local democracy through a variety of mechanisms and reforms as ways of responding to the challenge and opportunities facing it today

Democratization Through the Looking-glass

Author : Peter Burnell
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351522787
Total Pages : 293 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (515 download)

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Book Synopsis Democratization Through the Looking-glass by : Peter Burnell

Download or read book Democratization Through the Looking-glass written by Peter Burnell and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-02-06 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Democratization through the Looking-Glass, Peter Burnell provides a revealing image of how our knowledge and understanding of democratization could be improved by viewing the topic through a more multi- disciplinary lens and from the perspective of more broadly based comparative analyses. Burnell and his contributors encourage readers to both "look and think outside of the box," beyond the limited parameters that usually shape the study of democratization. The goal of Democratization through the Looking-Glass is to pursue a more comprehensive understanding of democratization as a process taking many forms rather than just as a political phenomenon. With a viewpoint from a wider multi-disciplinary stance, and broader global geopolitical knowledge base, the contributors hope to get readers to better recognize and address gaps in the political science literature on the subject of democratization. The contributors seek to do this by specifically: explaining what democratization is while also making sense of the wide variety of experiences undergone by different societies at different times going through this very process; anticipating the wider effects of democratization's consequences for all human conditions at all levels; and critically assessing strategies for extending and deepening democracy by improving its positive qualities and chances of being sustained in societies into which it is introduced. This volume takes readers in the direction of predicting and foretelling the future of democracy and democratization with greater accuracy. In all, Democratization through the Looking-Glass provides a wide-ranging review of themes, issues, and topics concisely written by leading experts in their fields while advancing its case for more inclusive comparative studies covering Europe and North America, as well as developing regions, showing precisely how multi-disciplinary approaches enhance a global vision and understanding of democratization.

The Role of Monarchy in Modern Democracy

Author : Robert Hazell
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1509931023
Total Pages : 501 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (99 download)

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Book Synopsis The Role of Monarchy in Modern Democracy by : Robert Hazell

Download or read book The Role of Monarchy in Modern Democracy written by Robert Hazell and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-09-17 with total page 501 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How much power does a monarch really have? How much autonomy do they enjoy? Who regulates the size of the royal family, their finances, the rules of succession? These are some of the questions considered in this edited collection on the monarchies of Europe. The book is written by experts from Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK. It considers the constitutional and political role of monarchy, its powers and functions, how it is defined and regulated, the laws of succession and royal finances, relations with the media, the popularity of the monarchy and why it endures. No new political theory on this topic has been developed since Bagehot wrote about the monarchy in The English Constitution (1867). The same is true of the other European monarchies. 150 years on, with their formal powers greatly reduced, how has this ancient, hereditary institution managed to survive and what is a modern monarch's role? What theory can be derived about the role of monarchy in advanced democracies, and what lessons can the different European monarchies learn from each other? The public look to the monarchy to represent continuity, stability and tradition, but also want it to be modern, to reflect modern values and be a focus for national identity. The whole institution is shot through with contradictions, myths and misunderstandings. This book should lead to a more realistic debate about our expectations of the monarchy, its role and its future. The contributors are leading experts from all over Europe: Rudy Andeweg, Ian Bradley, Paul Bovend'Eert, Axel Calissendorff, Frank Cranmer, Robert Hazell, Olivia Hepsworth, Luc Heuschling, Helle Krunke, Bob Morris, Roger Mortimore, Lennart Nilsson, Philip Murphy, Quentin Pironnet, Bart van Poelgeest, Frank Prochaska, Charles Powell, Jean Seaton, Eivind Smith.

Democracy, social resources and political power in the European Union

Author : Niilo Kauppi
Publisher : Manchester University Press
ISBN 13 : 1526130335
Total Pages : 224 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (261 download)

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Book Synopsis Democracy, social resources and political power in the European Union by : Niilo Kauppi

Download or read book Democracy, social resources and political power in the European Union written by Niilo Kauppi and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2018-02-28 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book Kauppi develops a structural constructivist theory of the European Union and critically analyses, through French and Finnish empirical cases, the political practices that maintain the Union's 'democratic deficit'. Kauppi conceptualises the European Union as both an arena for political contention and a nascent political order. In this evolving, multi-levelled European political field, individuals and groups construct material and symbolic structures of political power, grounded in a variety of social resources such as nationality, culture, and gender. The author shows how the dominance of both executive political resources and domestic political cultures has prevented the development of European democracy. Supranational executive networks have become more autonomous, reinforcing the dominance of the resources they control. At the same time, national political cultures condition the political status of elected institutions such as the European parliament. The book is particularly suited for undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of European Politics, European Union Studies and International Relations.

How Democracies Die

Author : Steven Levitsky
Publisher : Crown
ISBN 13 : 1524762946
Total Pages : 321 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (247 download)

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Book Synopsis How Democracies Die by : Steven Levitsky

Download or read book How Democracies Die written by Steven Levitsky and published by Crown. This book was released on 2019-01-08 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Comprehensive, enlightening, and terrifyingly timely.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice) WINNER OF THE GOLDSMITH BOOK PRIZE • SHORTLISTED FOR THE LIONEL GELBER PRIZE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • Time • Foreign Affairs • WBUR • Paste Donald Trump’s presidency has raised a question that many of us never thought we’d be asking: Is our democracy in danger? Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt have spent more than twenty years studying the breakdown of democracies in Europe and Latin America, and they believe the answer is yes. Democracy no longer ends with a bang—in a revolution or military coup—but with a whimper: the slow, steady weakening of critical institutions, such as the judiciary and the press, and the gradual erosion of long-standing political norms. The good news is that there are several exit ramps on the road to authoritarianism. The bad news is that, by electing Trump, we have already passed the first one. Drawing on decades of research and a wide range of historical and global examples, from 1930s Europe to contemporary Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela, to the American South during Jim Crow, Levitsky and Ziblatt show how democracies die—and how ours can be saved. Praise for How Democracies Die “What we desperately need is a sober, dispassionate look at the current state of affairs. Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, two of the most respected scholars in the field of democracy studies, offer just that.”—The Washington Post “Where Levitsky and Ziblatt make their mark is in weaving together political science and historical analysis of both domestic and international democratic crises; in doing so, they expand the conversation beyond Trump and before him, to other countries and to the deep structure of American democracy and politics.”—Ezra Klein, Vox “If you only read one book for the rest of the year, read How Democracies Die. . . .This is not a book for just Democrats or Republicans. It is a book for all Americans. It is nonpartisan. It is fact based. It is deeply rooted in history. . . . The best commentary on our politics, no contest.”—Michael Morrell, former Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (via Twitter) “A smart and deeply informed book about the ways in which democracy is being undermined in dozens of countries around the world, and in ways that are perfectly legal.”—Fareed Zakaria, CNN

Democracy in the European Union

Author : Erik Oddvar Eriksen
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134589921
Total Pages : 338 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (345 download)

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Book Synopsis Democracy in the European Union by : Erik Oddvar Eriksen

Download or read book Democracy in the European Union written by Erik Oddvar Eriksen and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-09-11 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The European Union is widely held to suffer from a democratic deficit, and this raises a wider question: can democracy at all be applied to decision-making bodies beyond the nation state? Today, the EU is a highly complex entity undergoing profound changes. This book asks how the type of cooperation that the EU is based on can be explained; what are the integrative forces in the EU and how can integration at a supra-national level come about? The key thinkers represented in this volume stress that in order to understand integration beyond the nation state, we need new explanatory categories associated with deliberation because a supranational entity as the EU posesses far weaker and less well-developed means of coercion - bargaining resources - than do states. The most appropriate term to denote this is the notion of 'deliberative supranationalism'. This pioneering work, headed by major writers such as Habermas, Schlesinger and Bellamy, brings a new perspective to this key issue in contemporary politics and political theory.

The Unfinished Democratization of Europe

Author : Erik O. Eriksen
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191571474
Total Pages : 286 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (915 download)

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Book Synopsis The Unfinished Democratization of Europe by : Erik O. Eriksen

Download or read book The Unfinished Democratization of Europe written by Erik O. Eriksen and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2009-09-10 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The widening and deepening of the European Union have brought to the fore the question of democracy at the European level. The system of domination already in place at the European level requires and aspires to direct legitimation - from the citizens themselves and not merely indirect, derived from the Member Nation States. Such can only be achieved by making the EU into a democratic polity. But can democracy be disassociated from its putative nation-state foundation? A revised concept of democratic legitimacy based on discourse theory is developed. It is argued that post-national democracy requires a constitution but not necessarily a state. The Union amounts to less than a state but more than an international organisation and a system of transnational governance. In the political theory of the multilevel constellation that makes up the EU, it is conceived of as a regional subset of an emerging cosmopolitan order. The EU is a state-less government. As it is not premised on group identity, it is able to accommodate a high measure of variance with regard to territory and function. The book analyzes the reforms undertaken to bring the EU 'closer to the citizens'. It documents elements of democratization and reduction of arbitrary power. However, democracy requires that the citizens can approve or reject the laws they are subjected to. Since the institutional as well as the civic conditions under which a public justification process would be deemed legitimate are not in place, European post-national democracy remains an unaccomplished mission.

A Europe Apart

Author : Roberto Di Quirico
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9788883980978
Total Pages : 360 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (89 download)

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Book Synopsis A Europe Apart by : Roberto Di Quirico

Download or read book A Europe Apart written by Roberto Di Quirico and published by . This book was released on 2020-06 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book combines history and political analysis of monetary integration in the European Union (EU) and discusses the main consequences of the euro on both member states' domestic politics and the EU's institutions and policies. The book is structured in three parts. In part I, historical analysis demonstrates that monetary instability and the need for international coordination in currency affairs emerged before political integration became an option. This suggests that monetary and political integration are convergent processes instead of two interconnected components of the wider European integration. Besides, the history of European monetary integration shows that many policies proposed today to face the euro and European crises had been discussed and tested in the past and that results were strictly connected to the specific conditions of the moment. Such a policy analysis-oriented approach to monetary history permits discussing with a different and innovative perspective the actual problems of monetary integration and the unmasking of misleading views of European integration widely diffused in the political debate since the end of the 2000s. Part II and part III discuss the political dimension of the European Economic and Monetary Union's (EMU) problems and the impact on member states' domestic politics. These sections consider themes such as EU institutional transformation, the new EU governance model that emerged due to the crisis, the problematic relationship between European integration and national democracy, and, finally, the role of monetary integration and opposition to the euro in feeding the growing electoral consensus in favour of populist parties. A conclusive chapter summarises the main results of this long-term analysis and answers some research questions anticipated in this book's introduction about the real nature and consequences of monetary integration.

Multi-Level Governance and European Integration

Author : Liesbet Hooghe
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN 13 : 0585381666
Total Pages : 268 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (853 download)

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Book Synopsis Multi-Level Governance and European Integration by : Liesbet Hooghe

Download or read book Multi-Level Governance and European Integration written by Liesbet Hooghe and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2002-05-30 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: European politics has been reshaped in recent decades by a dual process of centralization and decentralization. At the same time that authority in many policy areas has shifted to the suprantional level of the European Union, so national governments have given subnational regions within countries more say over the lives of their citizens. At the forefront of scholars who characterize this dual process as Omulti-level governance,OLiesbet Hooghe and Gary Marks argue that its emergence in the second half of the twentieth century is a watershed in the political development of Europe. Hooghe and Marks explain why multi-level governance has taken place and how it shapes conflict in national and European political arenas. Drawing on a rich body of original research, the book is at the same time written in a clear and accessible style for undergraduates and non-experts.