week 1 eu Flashcards
! What are the four key elements of a political system according to Hix/Hoyland?
- a stable and clearly defined set of institutions for collective decision-making and rules governing inter-institutional relations
- citizens recognize the system’s effectiveness to realize their political desires (directly or through representation)
- collective decisions have a significant impact on the distribution of economic resources and the allocation of values across the system
- the system exhibits continuous interaction (i.e. it is a permanent feature of political life)
! What are features of a region state (Schmidt argues EU to be region state)
- shared sovereignty (with MS)
- variable boundaries
- composite identity (EU lacks clear identity)
- highly compound government (different levels of governance)
- fragmented democracy (government for and with people)
! What does Schmidt say about democratic deficit of EU?
- Adopting Schmidt’s understanding of the EU as
a regional state, the democratic deficit
suddenly lies with the individual EU Member
States for not communicating the changes that
occurred to the nation-state’s structure to their
citizens. Thus democratic deficit is only there if we compare it to traditional nation-states which is misleading. EU is regional state
What are opt-outs?
specific exceptions that are granted to a member state when its unwilling or unable to fully accept all provision of a treaty or law
What is the Copenhagen criteria?
fundamental conditions regarding institutions, human rights and economic readiness aspiring member states have to meet before being able to join the EU
! What is neofunctionalism (in EU, Haas)?
Member states will work together to reap economic benefits, setting in motion a process in which ever more tasks are delegated to the supranational level. Essentially, this is a process whereby political actors in several distinct national settings are persuaded to shift their loyalties, expectations and political activities toward a new centre, where institutions possess and demand jurisdiction over the pre-existing national states.
Haas argues that EU integration was elite-driven and in 4 steps
1. recognizing possibility of mutual economic gains
2. further economic gains can only be derived if certain sectors are integrated as well (functional spillover)
3. creation of new center of authority fosters the emergence of new transnational interests that put more pressure on governments to integrate
4. increased complexity of several functional arrangements will lead to further institutionalization at supranational level
- critics: sees integration as linear and self-sustaining process.
! What is a spinoff of neofunctionalism?
- Theory of supranational governance by Alex Stone Sweet and Wayne Sandholtz: some policy sectors are more prone to integrative steps than others. it describes a continuum that stretches from highly intergovernmental areas (foreign policy) to more supranational policy issues (internal market)
! neofunctionalism relies on spillovers, what are the three spillovers?
- Functional spillovers are technical in nature and based upon the insight that the full benefits of integrative steps can only be attained if further moves in neighbouring fields are made.
- Political spillovers are a result of deliberate pressure exerted by national interests expecting to benefit from further integrative steps.
- Cultivated spillovers are influenced by supranational actors like the Commission, EP and CJEU which implement and administer member state agreements and foster further integration.
! What is intergovernmentalism (in EU, Hoffman)?
Member states are fully in charge of cooperative steps they take and only collaborate according to their interest. This theory has its roots in the realist approach of international relations theory positing that issues of sovereignty and security are dominant in explaining the behavior of countries and that governments are the sole players in the international political arena and maintain the vital interests of the nation-state. It makes the distinction between high politics (sovereignty, security) and low politics (economics)
- Hoffman argues that governments are still in charge, they allow further integration or not. In low politics, integration is possible (logic of integration, but in high politics integration is less likely as states have to give up powers (logic of diversity)
! What is a spinoff of intergovernmentalism?
Liberal intergovernmentalism by Andrew Moravcsik: MS preferences are not autonomously formed but heavily influence by sub-state groups. outcomes of negotiations are result of bargaining between MS
What is the comparative politics approach to explaining European Union politics?
It argues that the EU shares many features of national political systems and therefore can best be studies using the tools that have been developed for that purpose, which results in two advantages
- by building upon insights of comparative politics approach it is possible to use an establish body of theories that guides research questions and employs well-developed methodological tools to answer them
- the obtained insights can be put into perspective by comparing them to findings from studies of national political systems, which makes it easier to interpret them
What is the theory of multi-level governance to explaining European Union politics (Liesbeth Hooghe and Gary marks)?
EU is one of a kind political system that has organized its policy-making in unique fashion, where
- decision-making authority has been dispersed over several levels of government and is no longer confined to national governments
-includes subnational (regions) and supranational (commission) levels
- national level of government depends upon the resources of other levels of governments
- subnational levels of government are directly involved in making cohesion policies and do not have to rely on willingness of national governments
What are the three groups of studying EU of comparative politics?
- EU polity: legislative / executive / judicial
- EU politics: examining activities and strategies of what we might term external actors and factors (citizens / political parties / interest groups)
- comparative federalism: seeks to gain insight by comparing it to federal states like US
! What are two main similarities and differences of intergovernmentalism vs. neofunctionalism
similarities:
- Member state preferences and activities are not fully autonomous, but partly the result of domestic circumstances, most importantly the activities of interest groups that try to lobby
their governments.
- The roles and influence of actors depend upon the type of decision and the policy area studied. What may be true in some policy areas does not have to hold in other ones.
differences:
- Intergovernmentalism places more emphasis on member state governments being more self serving rather than thinking of serving the interests of the wider union.
- As per neofunctionalism, integration will be carried out at a more supranational level meaning that individual states will have less say in that however as per intergovernmentalism the individual states will have more say in their own interests.
