Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T16:39:24.607Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Democracy in Europe: The Impact of European Integration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2005

Vivien A. Schmidt
Affiliation:
Boston University ([email protected])

Abstract

Europeanization has brought radical change to the governance practices of all European Union (EU) member states, and these practices have clashed with traditional ideas about democracy. The degree to which EU member states have been affected is largely a matter of institutional fit. The EU, as a compound supranational polity in which governing activity is highly diffused through multiple authorities, has been more disruptive to simple national polities such as Britain and France, in which governing has traditionally been channeled through a single authority, than to compound national polities such as Germany and Italy, in which it has traditionally also been diffused through multiple authorities.

The main problem for EU member states, however, is that national leaders have generally failed to develop new ideas and discourses to reflect Europeanized realities. But here too institutional differences matter. Simple polities are better positioned to address changes because their concentration of authority ensures them a more elaborate communicative discourse with the general public, in which they are able to speak with one voice, than are compound national polities, let alone the EU, given the number of potentially authoritative voices with differing messages.Vivien A. Schmidt is Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration at Boston University ([email protected]). Her recent books include Policy Change and Discourse in Europe, coedited with C. Radaelli (2005), and The Futures of European Capitalism (2002). Her forthcoming book Democracy in Europe: The EU and National Polities (2006) explores the impact of the European integration on national democracies. This article is a revision of a paper prepared for presentation to the American Political Science Association National Meetings in Chicago, September 1–5, 2004.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2005 American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Berman, Sheri. 1998. The social democratic moment: Ideas and politics in the making of interwar Europe. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Blyth, Mark. 2002. Great transformations: Economic ideas and institutional change in the twentieth century. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Börzel, Tanja, and Thomas Risse. 2000. When Europe hits home: Europeanization and domestic change. European Integration Online Papers (EIOP) 4 (15): 124.Google Scholar
Börzel, Tanja, and Thomas Risse. 2002. States and regions in the European Union: Institutional adaptation in Germany and Spain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bréchon, Pierre. 2002. Des valeurs politiques entre pérénnité et changement. Futuribles 277: 92128.Google Scholar
Burley, Anne-Marie, and Walter Mattli. 1993. Europe before the court: A political theory of legal integration. International Organization 47 (1): 4176.Google Scholar
Bush, Evelyn, and Pete Simi. 2001. European farmers and their protests. In Contentious Europeans: Protest and politics in an emerging polity, ed. Douglas Imig and Sidney Tarrow, 97-124. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield.
Caporaso, James, and Joseph Jupille. 1999. Institutionalism and the EU: Beyond IR and comparatives politics. Annual Review of Political Science 2: 429444.Google Scholar
Conant, Lisa. 2001. Contested legal boundaries and institutional adaptations: The Europeanization of the law in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. In Transforming Europe: Europeanization and domestic change, ed. Maria Green Cowles, James Caporaso, and Thomas Risse, 97115. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Conant, Lisa. 2002. Justice contained: Law and politics in the European Union. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Cowles, Maria Green. 2001. The transatlantic business dialogue. In Transforming Europe, ed. Maria Green Cowles, James Caporaso, and Thomas Risse, 15979. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Cowles, Maria Green, James Caporaso, and Thomas Risse, eds. 2001. Transforming Europe: Europeanization and domestic change. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Duina, Francesco, and Michael J. Oliver. 2004. National parliaments in the European Union: Are there any benefits to integration? Paper presented at the American Political Science Association National Meetings, Chicago, September 1–5.
Egan, Michelle. 2001. Constructing a European market: Trade barriers, regulatory strategies and corporate responses. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Eising, Rainer, and Nicolas Jabko. 2001. Moving targets: Institutional embeddedness and domestic politics in the liberalization of EU electricity markets. Comparative Political Studies 34 (7): 74267.Google Scholar
Eriksen, Erik O., and John Erik Fossum. 2002. Democracy through strong publics in the European Union? Journal of Common Market Studies 40 (3): 40124.Google Scholar
Fabbrini, Sergio, ed. 2003. L'Europeizzazione dell'Italia: L'impatto dell'Unione Europea sulle istituzioni e le politiche italiane. Rome: Laterza.
Falkner, Gerda. 1998. EU social policy in the 1990s: Towards a corporatist policy community. London: Routledge.
Gabel, Matthew. 2001. European integration, voters, and national politics. In Europeanised politics, ed. Klaus Goetz and Simon Hix, 5273. London: Frank Cass.
Geddes, Andrew, and Virginie Guiraudon. 2004. Britain, France, and EU anti-discrimination policy: The emergence of a EU paradigm. West European Politics 27 (2): 33453.Google Scholar
Gerstenberg, O., and C. Sable. 2000. Directly-deliberative polyarchy: An institutional ideal for Europe? www2.law.columbia.edu/sabel/papers/gerst-sabel1029.doc
Greenwood, Justin. 2003. Interest representation in the European Union. Basingstoke: Palgrave/Macmillan.
Greven, Michael T. 2000. Can the European Union finally become a democracy? In Democracy beyond the state? The European dilemma and the emerging global order, ed. Michael T. Greven and Louis W. Pauly, 3562. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.
Grimm, Dieter. 1995. Does Europe need a constitution? European Law Journal 1 (3): 282302.Google Scholar
Haas, Peter M. 1992. Introduction: Epistemic communities and international policy coordination. International Organization 46 (1): 135.Google Scholar
Habermas, Jürgen. 1989. The structural transformation of the public sphere. Tr. T. Burger and F. Lawrence. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Habermas, Jürgen. 1996. Between facts and norms: Contributions to a discourse theory. London: Polity Press.
Hértier, Adrienne. 2000. Differential Europe: National administrative responses to community policy. In Europeanization and domestic change, eds. Maria Green Cowles, James Caporaso, and Thomas Tisse. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Hooghe, Liesbeth, ed. 1996. Cohesion policy, the European Community and subnational government. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hooghe, Liesbet, and Gary Marks. 2001. Multi-level governance and European integration. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield.
Imig, Douglas, and Simon Tarrow, eds. 2001a. Contentious Europeans. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Imig, Douglas, and Simon Tarrow 2001b. Political contention in a Europeanising polity. In Europeanised politics, ed. Klaus Goetz and Simon Hix, 7393. London: Frank Cass.
Jeffery, Charlie. 1999. Recasting German federalism. London: Pinter.
Jobert, Bruno. 2001. Europe and the reshaping of national forums: The French case. Paper prepared for presentation at the conference Ideas, Discourse and European Integration, European Union Center, Harvard University, May 11–12.
Joerges, Christian. 1999. Good governance through comitology? In EU committees: Social regulation, law, and politics, ed. Christian Joerges and Ellen Vos, 31138. Oxford: Hart Publishing.
Keating, Michael, and Brian Jones. 1995. The European Union and the regions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Klingemann, Hans-Dieter. 1999. Mapping political support in the 1990s. In Critical citizens, ed. P. Norris. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kohler-Koch, Beate. 2002. European networks and ideas: Changing national policies? European Integration Online Papers 6 (6).Google Scholar
Kohler-Koch, Beate, and Rainer Eising, eds. 1999. The transformation of governance in the European Union. London: Routledge.
Ladrech, Robert. 1994. The Europeanization of domestic politics: The case of France. Journal of Common Market Studies 32 (1): 6988.Google Scholar
Lijphart, Arend. 1984. Democracies: Patterns of majoritarian and consensus government in twenty-one countries. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Loughlin, John, Eliseo Aja, Udo Bullmann, Frank Hendriks, and Anders Lidstrom. 2001. Subnational democracy in the European Union: Challenges and opportunities. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mair, Peter. 2001. The limited impact of Europe on national party systems. In Europeanised politics, ed. Klaus Goetz and Simon Hix, 2751. London: Frank Cass.
Majone, Giandomenico. 1998. Europe's democratic deficit. European Law Journal 4 (1): 528.Google Scholar
Majone, Giandomenico, ed. 1996. Regulating Europe. London and New York: Routledge.
Marks, Gary, Liesbeth Hooghe, and Kermit Blank. 1996. European integration since the 1980s: State-centric versus multi-level governance. Journal of Common Market Studies 34 (3): 34178.Google Scholar
Moravcsik, A. 2002. Reassessing legitimacy in the European Union. Journal of Common Market Studies 40 (4): 60324.Google Scholar
Nicolaides, Kalypso. 2001. Conclusion: The federal vision beyond the nation-state. In The federal vision, ed. Kalypso Nicolaides and Robert Howse, 43982. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Norton, Philip. 1996a. The United Kingdom: Political conflict, parliamentary scrutiny. In National parliaments and the European Union, ed. Philip Norton. London: Frank Cass.
Norton, Philip, ed. 1996b. National parliaments and the European Union. London: Frank Cass.
Olsen, Johan. 2002. The many faces of Europeanization. ARENA Working Papers WP 02/2. http://www.arena.uio.no/publications/wp02_2.htm.
Pharr, Susan J., and Robert D. Putnam, eds. 2000. Disaffected democracies. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Radaelli, Claudio M. 2003. The Europeanisation of public policy. In The politics of Europeanisation, ed. Kevin Featherstone and Claudio M. Radaelli, 2756. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Radaelli, Claudio M., and Vivien A. Schmidt. 2004. Mapping the scope of discourse, learning, and Europeanisation in policy change. West European Politics 27 (2): 183210.Google Scholar
Rein, M., and D.A. Schön. 1994. Frame reflection: Toward the resolution of intractable policy controversies. New York: BasicBooks.
Reynié, Dominique, and Bruno Cautrès. 2001. L'opinion européenne. Paris: Presses de Sciences Po.
Risse, Thomas. 1998. “Let's argue!” Communicative action in world politics. International Organization 54 (1): 139.Google Scholar
Rizzuto, Franco. 1996. The French parliament and the EU: Loosening the constitutional straitjacket. In National parliaments and the European Union, ed. Philip Norton. London: Frank Cass.
Saalfeld, Thomas. 1996. The German houses of parliament and European legislation. In National parliaments and the European Union, ed. Philip Norton. London: Frank Cass.
Sabatier, Paul A. 1998. The advocacy coalition framework: Revisions and relevance for Europe. Journal of European Public Policy 5 (1): 98130.Google Scholar
Sbragia, Alberta. 1993. The European community: A balancing act. Publius 23 (3): 2338.Google Scholar
Scharpf, Fritz W. 1988. The joint decision trap: Lessons from German federalism and European integration. Public Administration 66 (3): 23978.Google Scholar
Scharpf, Fritz W. 2000a. Economic changes, vulnerabilities, and institutional capabilities. In Welfare and work in the open economy. Vol. 1, From vulnerability to competitiveness, ed. Fritz Scharpf, Vivien A. Schmidt 21-124. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Scharpf, Fritz W. 2000b. Governing in Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Scharpf, Fritz W. 2002a. Concepualizing democratic accountability beyond the state: The European Union. Unpublished manuscript. (June).
Schimmelfennig, Frank. 2001. The community trap: Liberal norms, rhetorical action, and the eastern enlargement of the European Union. International Organization 55 (1): 4780.Google Scholar
Schmidt, Vivien A. 1990. Democratizing France: The political and administrative history of decentralization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schmidt, Vivien A. 1996. From state to market? The transformation of French business and government. New York and London: Cambridge University Press.
Schmidt, Vivien A. 1999a. European “federalism” and its encroachments on national institutions. Publius 29 (1): 1944.Google Scholar
Schmidt, Vivien A. 1999b. National patterns of governance under siege: The impact of European integration. In The transformation of governance in the European Union, ed. Beate Kohler-Koch and Rainer Eising, 155-172. London: Routledge.
Schmidt, Vivien A. 2001. Federalism and state governance in the EU and the US: An institutional perspective. In The federal vision: Legitimacy and levels of goverance in the U.S. and the European Union, ed. K. Nicholaides and R. Howse. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Schmidt, Vivien A. 2002a. The futures of European capitalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Schmidt, Vivien A. 2002b. Does discourse matter in the politics of welfare state adjustment? Comparative Political Studies 35 (2): 16893.Google Scholar
Schmidt, Vivien A. 2004. The European Union: Democratic legitimacy in a regional state? Journal of Common Market Studies 42 (4): 97598.Google Scholar
Schmidt, Vivien A., and Claudio Radaelli. 2004. Conceptual and methodological issues in policy change in Europe. Introduction to Symposium issue of West European Politics 27 (4): 128.Google Scholar
Stone, Alec. 1992. The birth of judicial politics: The constitutional council in comparative perspective. New York: Oxford University Press.
Stone Sweet, Alec. 2000. Governing with judges: Constitutional politics in Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Van der Eijk, Cees, and Mark N. Franklin. 1996. Choosing Europe? The European electorate and national polities in the face of union. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Verdun, Amy. 2000. European responses to globalization and financial market integration: Perceptions of European Monetary Union in Britain, France, and Germany. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Weiler, J. H. H. 1994. A quiet revolution: The European Court of Justice and its interlocutors. Comparative Political Studies 26 (4): 51034.Google Scholar
Weiler, J. H. H. 1995. The state “über alles”: Demos, telos and the German Maastricht decision. Jean Monnet Working Paper Series 6/95. Cambridge: Harvard Law School.
Weiler, J. H. H. 1999. The constitution of Europe: “Do the new clothes have an emperor?” and other essays on European integration. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.