Parliamentary party groups are central actors in most European democracies. This volume analyzes the manifestations and operations of these actors across thirteen different countries and in the European parliament. The partisan groups in parliament form the link between mass suffrage, parties and parliaments, and are generally accepted today as necessary instruments of parliamentary business. The study of parliamentary party groups (PPGs) is connected with our understanding of liberal, representative democracy. Moreover, debates about the contempt and apathy towards contemporary politics and politicians, in which the alleged gap between voters and representatives, a decline in trust in the political elite, and complaints about partitocrazia prominently figure, have put PPGs in the limelight. How do MPs deal with the tension between being a representative of the people and a member of a political party? And how do they fulful their task to control government when fellow partisans are participating in that government? This book reveals that PPGs have increasing importance. The "parliamentary party complexes", resulting from the growing generosity of the state, and the

During the past fifty years few issues in British politics have generated such heated controversy as Britain's approach to European integration. Why has Europe had such an explosive impact on British politics? What impelled British policymakers to embrace a European destiny and why did they take such a cautious approach? These are some of the key issues addressed in"The Reluctant Europeans." This new study draws upon recently available source material providing a clear chronological account and covering events right up to Blair's first year in office and the launch of the Euro.

The book presents a theoretically informed typology of modes of governance which is tested in a careful selection of comparative country and policy studies. At the core is the question whether the European Union is destined to a network type of governance and whether and how this type of governance will be translated into the member states. The individual chapters subject the governing patterns at European and national level to empirical scrutiny. Drawing on recent research findings in different issue areas - including monetary union, social affairs, environment, genetic engineering and market liberalisation in transport, banking, energy, professional services - the contributions highlight the impact of the European activities on policy-making process in the member states.


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The dynamics of European integration is increasingly topical as Europe's political leaders grapple with the nature and purpose of the EU in the light of major developments, such as the Euro, enlargement and the Treaty of Amsterdam. This book begins with an analysis of an unsettled Europe and the unsettled nature of scholarly analysis of the EU. Taking the emphasis off integration, the authors focus on changes in the nation state, world and international politics and relate these to the changing union. It challenges conventional writings on European integration by situating the analysis of the EU in the context of changing patterns of political and economic order. The authors conclude that the union is not evolving towards a federal superstate, but rather, is an arena of deep economic integration governed by a prismatic policy characterized by innovation, experimentation, pragmatism, decentralization and devolution. Although it may seem unsettled, this book reveals that in fact the experimental nature of the EU enables it to respond to multiple agendas and Europe's diversity in a flexible manner.

The dynamics of European integration is increasingly topical as Europe's political leaders grapple with the nature and purpose of the EU in the light of major developments, such as the Euro, enlargement and the Treaty of Amsterdam. This book begins with an analysis of an unsettled Europe and the unsettled nature of scholarly analysis of the EU. Taking the emphasis off integration, the authors focus on changes in the nation state, world and international politics and relate these to the changing union. It challenges conventional writings on European integration by situating the analysis of the EU in the context of changing patterns of political and economic order. The authors conclude that the union is not evolving towards a federal superstate, but rather, is an arena of deep economic integration governed by a prismatic policy characterized by innovation, experimentation, pragmatism, decentralization and devolution. Although it may seem unsettled, this book reveals that in fact the experimental nature of the EU enables it to respond to multiple agendas and Europe's diversity in a flexible manner.

Based on extensive original research, this volume examines contemporary patterns of womens employment in Europe in the context of the profound economic, social and cultural changes that have taken place in recent years. It considers the progress made towards equal treatment in the labour market in the light of European Union action programmes, and examines the prospects for womens employment under the fourth action programme. The authors conclude that progress towards equal treatment will only occur when gender issues are fully integrated into the European Commissions employment and labour market policies.

"Redefining European Security "is a collection of essays concerned with changing perspectives on peace and political stability in Europe since the end of the Cold War, in both the "hard" security terms of military capacity and readiness and in the realm of "soft" security concerns of economic stability and democratic reform. European governments, the European Union, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are dealing with the fundamental problem of determining the very parameters of Europe, politically, economically, and institutionally. This book defines security as the efforts undertaken by national governments and multilateral institutions, beginning with the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany, to continue to protect European populations from acts of war and politically-motivated violence in light of the dissolution of the imminent political threat posed to Western Europe by the Soviet Union, 1945-1991
Together these essays assess the progress made in Europe toward preventing conflict, as well as in ending conflict when it occurs, after the abrupt passing of a situation in which the source and nature of a conflict were highly predictable and the emergence of new circumstances in which potential security threats are multiple, variable, and difficult to measure. Contemporary Europe is a mixture of old and new, of arrested and accelerated history. Europe's governments and institutions have been only partly successful in meeting new security challenges, to a high degree because of failing unity and political will. "Yesterday, Europe only just avoided perishing from imperial follies and frenzied ideologies," wrote the late Raymond Aron in 1976, "she could perishtomorrow through historical abdication."

This volume analyzes French and German diplomacy during the intergovernmental conferences (IGCs) on economic and monetary union (EMU) and political union, and the subsequent national treaty ratification process in each country. It uses various approaches to explore the domestic-international interactions predominant during internal bargaining in Paris and Bonn, and external negotiations at different levels among working groups, personal representatives, ministers and political leaders in Brussels.

Women's employment is central to the changing face of European labour markets and social systems. Now, employment and unemployment is at the top of the political agenda at European Union level; women will be a key source of labour supply in the near future and in the next century. This text examines the changes in gender relations in all fifteen member states of the European Union. Looking at women's labour in the 1990s, the book analyzes trends in terms of changes which have taken place in international and national economies, within enterprises, and in the behaviour and aspirations of individuals and households. This contextualization allows the authors to consider the progress towards equal treatment in the labour market, and this is assessed in terms of key issues: care and wage work; occupational segregation; and pay and working time. The book aims to provide a systematic and international analysis of key dimensions for understanding women's labour market position; and reveals that to assess future trends it is necessary to look beyond the narrow focus of equal opportunities policies to broader issues of labour market conditions, regulations and policy developments.

Are the recent developments in Europe bringing countries together or pulling them apart? The experts in this work cover a wide range of subjects, including the move towards political democracy and market economy in Central and Eastern societies, the project of the European Union, ethnic conflict, the rise of nationalism, social exclusion and women's role in public life. Contributors include: Thomas P.Boje, Bart Van Steenbergen, Sylvia Walby, Sheila Allen, Sara Arber, Volker Bornschier, Rosemary Crompton, Marlis Buchmann, Godfried Engbersen, Ute Gerhard, Mark Mitchell, John Rex, Dave Russell, Julia Szalai, Piotr Sztompka, Goran Therborn, Alain Touraine and Patrick Ziltener.

The authors of this work examine the dominant view that voluntary activity promotes social capital and hence good government, but also explore alternative models for the creation of social capital. Theoretical discussion is combined with detailed case studies to provide a new explanation of :
* the origins and nature of social capital
* its effects on political participation and policy-making
* the role of the voluntary sector
Contributors go on to examine the possibility that current changes in the voluntary sector may in fact undermine social capital and consider the consequences.
This book is an important step forward in this rapidly growing field of research and adds a unique European perspective to a debate which has been largely US-focussed.

Successive Enlargements to the European Union membership have transformed it into an economically, politically and culturally heterogeneous body with distinct vulnerabilities in its multi-level governance. This book analyses core-periphery relations to highlight the growing cleavage, and potential conflict, between the core and peripheral member-states of the Union in the face of the devastating consequences of Eurozone crisis. Taking a comparative and theoretical approach and using a variety of case studies, it examines how the crisis has both exacerbated tensions in centre-periphery relations within and outside the Eurozone, and how the European Union's economic and political status is declining globally. This text will be of key interest to students and scholars of European Union studies, European integration, political economy, public policy, and comparative politics.

In mid March 1999, all 20 members of the executive leadership of the European Union resigned. This was in response to a report, from an independent panel, citing the leadership with chronic cronyism and corruption. One of the most common and strongest criticisms of the EU is that the power is held by a select few unaccountable technocrats sitting in Brussels and who, without consultation, formulate policies.

Written just prior to the mass resignations, Claudio Radaelli provided this exploration of technocracy. He has adopted an innovative approach to his study, one which is concise and analytical and which will introduce the reader to the wide ranging literature from political science, political sociology and organizational behavior on bureaucracy and technocracy. All key to understanding how the EU works. Included are two case studies which show the possibilities and limits of relying on 'technocrats'.

Since the Maastricht ratification debate of the early 1990s, the legitimacy of the European Union has become a subject of controversy. With unprecedented force, Europeans have begun to question the need for deeper integration. Some fear threats to established national identities, while others perceive the emergence of a distant but powerful Brussels, beyond the reach of democratic control. Legitimacy and the European Union breaks with established approaches to the problem of the legitimacy of the European Union by focusing on the recent trend towards reconceptualization of the EU not as a superstate or an organization of states, but as a multi-level, contested polity without precedent. The book examines the implications of this reconceptualization for the problem of legitimacy. Individual chapters focus on policy areas, institutions and identity politics. Taken together, they reach two main conclusions. While Europeans do not strongly identify with the EU, they increasingly recognize it as a framework for politics alongside existing national and subnational structures. And while the EU lacks central democratic institutions, the integration process has spawned significant informal and pluralist forms of representation. Rethinking recognition and representation ouside the context of the nation state points to important, if little understood, actual and potential sources of EU legitimacy.

Since the Maastricht ratification debate of the early 1990s, the legitimacy of the European Union has become a subject of controversy. With unprecedented force, Europeans have begun to question the need for deeper integration. Some fear threats to established national identities, while others perceive the emergence of a distant but powerful Brussels, beyond the reach of democratic control. Legitimacy and the European Union breaks with established approaches to the problem of the legitimacy of the European Union by focusing on the recent trend towards reconceptualization of the EU not as a superstate or an organization of states, but as a multi-level, contested polity without precedent. The book examines the implications of this reconceptualization for the problem of legitimacy. Individual chapters focus on policy areas, institutions and identity politics. Taken together, they reach two main conclusions. While Europeans do not strongly identify with the EU, they increasingly recognize it as a framework for politics alongside existing national and subnational structures. And while the EU lacks central democratic institutions, the integration process has spawned significant informal and pluralist forms of representation. Rethinking recognition and representation ouside the context of the nation state points to important, if little understood, actual and potential sources of EU legitimacy.

The creation of the European Union arguably ranks among the most extraordinary achievements in modern world politics. Observers disagree, however, about the reasons why European governments have chosen to co- ordinate core economic policies and surrender sovereign perogatives. This text analyzes the history of the region's movement toward economic and political union. Do these unifying steps demonstrate the pre-eminence of national security concerns, the power of federalist ideals, the skill of political entrepreneurs like Jean Monnet and Jacques Delors, or the triumph of technocratic planning? Moravcsik rejects such views. Economic interdependence has been, he maintains, the primary force compelling these democracies to move in this surprising direction. Politicians rationally pursued national economic advantage through the exploitation of asymmetrical interdependence and the manipulation of institutional commitments.

This volume addresses the issues arising from the recent devolution referenda by exploring the historical development of the proposals, the importance of national and regional identities, the changing policies of the political parties and the approaches of business and other major groups towards devolution. It also looks at the impact on electoral reform coming from the proposal that proportional representation be used to elect the regional assemblies and how the new assemblies are to be financed. Finally the book discusses the implications of a devolved British state where different countries and regions achieve different levels of autonomy at different paces.

This volume addresses the issues arising from the recent devolution referenda by exploring the historical development of the proposals, the importance of national and regional identities, the changing policies of the political parties and the approaches of business and other major groups towards devolution. It also looks at the impact on electoral reform coming from the proposal that proportional representation be used to elect the regional assemblies and how the new assemblies are to be financed. Finally the book discusses the implications of a devolved British state where different countries and regions achieve different levels of autonomy at different paces.

At first, it was believed that accession to the EU would have a positive effect on the process of democratization in former communist countries. However, over time it became clear that difficulties with the democratic system endured in a number of these countries. This book reconsiders the results of the process of democratization in Central and Eastern Europe and evaluates the nature and effectiveness of the Europeanization process. It comparatively explores the process of democratic consolidation and accession to the European Union in Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria. Using these case studies, the book assesses the impact of the EU on the accountability and integrity of governments in this part of Europe. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of democratization studies, European studies, EU studies, transition studies, area studies, and international relations.

Despite the growing academic interest in the development policy of the European Union (EU) and the booming literature on Europeanisation, the impact of Europe on national development policies has largely been overlooked. By exploring Member State interactions with and through the EU level across a number of different issues, this volume looks to herald a new research agenda. The picture emerging from the empirical evidence is that of modest degrees of Europeanisation. Resistance to Europe can be attributed to different factors, some operating at the domestic level (e.g. established cultural and normative structures, different types of veto players) and others related to the existence of several groupings with alternative policy prescriptions (e.g. Nordic donors, like-minded countries, former colonial powers). Even where there are signs of convergence (or divergence) between the development policies of the various Member States, they may be due to other influences rather than pressures coming from the EU. This book was originally published as a special issue of European Politics and Society.

This title was first published in 2000: A fresh and original study of EU and NATO enlargement, which sets both in a comparative context and considers them against a backdrop of the evolution of a pan-European security community. The book is divided into two parts. In part one the authors examine and discuss the EU and NATO enlargement processes and the 'incremental linkage' which has developed between them. The major issues and challenges facing the two institutions as they ponder the next steps in enlargement are also assessed. Part two includes separate chapters on the post-Cold War evolution of the EU and NATO overall. These discussions focus on their strengths and limitations in contributing to the broader and more co-operative kind of European security which the end of the Cold War makes possible. The final chapters examine a number of possible scenarios under which the EU and NATO either succeed or fail in contributing significantly to the development of a new European security order. The potential consequences for both the institutions themselves and for European security generally will be explored and assessed.

Most of the contemporary debates about the European Union - about its role, its institutional arrangements, its development dynamic, its expansion and possible futures - revolve around the issue of political legitimacy. "Legitimacy and the European Union "addresses the fundamental issues at the heart of the debates on Europe and examines such key questions as: - -What is the scope of the EU's authority -Is there a legitimacy deficit? If so, how much does it matter -Does political legitimacy only reside in the nation state? Using a multi-dimensional conception of political legitimacy, the text analyses the character and problems of the European Union's authority in respect of democracy, political identity and governmental performance. Its distinctive claim is that political legitimacy can now only be understood as a process of interaction between the state and EU levels, and that this interaction impacts differentially on different member states.

The Dynamics of EU External Energy Relations examines the behaviour of the European Commission in EU external energy relations paying particular attention to the dynamics existing between the Commission and the member states. It examines the Commission as a constrained policy-entrepreneur trying to expand its power, budget and competences, yet frustrated by member states protective of their national sovereignty. Analysing the Commission as agent and the member states as its principals, the book proposes a more nuanced examination of behaviour where the agent tries to satisfy its own interests but is still responsive to the preferences of the principals. Using a wide range of original primary and secondary data, the book argues that EU external energy relations reflect the dynamics of the relations between the Commission and the member states. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of European Union studies and politics, EU energy and foreign policy, and more broadly to European politics and international relations.

Korean consumer electronics have, in the past decade, displayed an exceptional attitude towards direct investment in the EU, marking a definite break from the long tradition of strong governmental initiatives previously undertaken in the strategic affairs Korean firms. This study addresses the fundamental question why and under which conditions Korean firms increased their investment so heavily in the EU after 1986 and why they, and not the Korean government, took the initiative in the decision-making process. The author contends that the main reason for the firms' departure from government policy is the belief of the Korean government that national competitiveness, which largely affects the country's standard of living, is determined by the success of local firms in global competition. The government policy of offering tax breaks to Korean "chaebols" is one of the most attractive incentives to expand production abroad rather than at home. Moreover, the government acknowledges that Korean firms are obliged to sell their products in foreign countries because of the small size of the domestic market, which gives rise to the paradoxical situation of barriers being raised to exports, w