What Is the European Union: Nature and Prospects

ISBN-13: 9781403941824 / Angielski / Miękka / 2005 / 240 str.

Paul Magnette

Opis

This is a distinctive new textbook on the political dynamics of the EU which offers a refreshing alternative to the traditional history-policy-institutions model. Assuming no prior knowledge, it introduces a wide range of key debates with a central focus on how the need to accommodate a range of state interests shapes the EU political system and on the implications this has for its democratic functionality and the process of Europeanization and integration.

Spis treści

Introduction.- Europeanization and its Limits.- Policy-making in a Union of States.- Cooperation and Conflict: The Union and its States.- Competing for Leadership: Commission Vs Council.- Building Compromise in a Divided Polity.- Representation and Accountability: A Semi-Parliamentary Regime.- In the Shadow of the Law: Politics and the Court.- Politics and the People: A Fragmented Public Sphere.- Participation and Citizenship: Towards a Trans-national Democracy?.- Conclusion: The Union, Its Nature and Value.

O autorze

PAUL MAGNETTE is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institute for European Studies, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium. He also teaches at Sciences-po, Paris.