The European Union: (International Library of Politics & Comparative Government)

Although the European union did not come into existence until the 1990s it had been evolving for over forty years. This evolution was within the context of the process of Western European integration that began to unfold since World War 2. Nugent argues that full understanding of the European Union can only be gained if it is firmly placed within the context of various dimensions of the European integration process. The 2 volumes take a broad approach, with a considerable body of wrtings having been considered for inclusion, with most of the selections for the volumes having been first pubished in academic journals. Volume I on European integration is concerned to reflect the increased importance of the integration process since the relaunch of the European Community in the mid 1980s with the 1985 Single European Market programme and the 1986 Single European Act. Subjects covered include: the attempt since the late 1980s to move towards the creation of an Economic and Monetary Union with a single currency; the enlargements of the EC/EU which saw the membership increase from ten to twelve in 1986, when Portugal and Spain joined, and from twelve to fifteen in 1995 when Austria, Sweden, and Finland joined together; and the apparent movement towards an increasingly mulit-speed and layered Europe. Volume II is focused on European Union policy processes. Articles included cover such subjects as domestic politics and European Community policy making; issue linkage in the European Community; and agenda setting in the European Community.

Table of Contents:
Volume I Part I Perspectives on the nature of the European Union: reflections on the structure of the European Union, U. Everling; the European Community - a balancing act, A. Sbragia; democracy and symbiosis in the European Union - towards a confederal consociation?, D.N. Chryssochoou; constituional reform in the European Community - are there alternatives to the majoritarian avenue?, R. Dehousse; the third lens - European integration and State building compared, G. Marks; Europe's identity crisis revisited, S. Hoffman. Part II Pespectives on nation states: the European Community and the State - assumptions, theories and prepositions, P. Taylor; rescue or retreat - the Nation State in Western Europe, 1945-93, W. Wallace. Part III Perspectives on citizens' identity: national identity and the idea of European unity, A.D. Smith; a comunity of Europeans, P. Howe. Part IV Theoretical interpretaions of the integration process: preferences and power in the European Community - a liberal intergovernmentalist approach, A. Moravcsik; institutional interaction and European integration - towards an everyday critique of liberal intergovernmentalism, D. Wincott; liberal intergovernmentalism and integration - a rejoinder, A. Moravcsik; the Maastricht treaty, Economic and Monetary Union and the Neo-Realist research programme, J.M Grieco; contempoary European integraton theory - the limits of nation state centrism, B. Rosamund; Neo-functionalism - obstinate or obsolete? a reappraisal in the light of the new dynamism of the EC, J. Tranholm-Mikkelsen; Europe before the court - a political theory of legal integration, A.M. Burley and W. Mattli; beyond intergovernmentalism - the quest for a comprehensive framework for the study of integration, J.H. Matlary; superanational actors and domestic politics - integration theory reconsidered in the light of the Single European Act and Maastricht, S. George; mapping the European condition - the theory of integration and the integration of theory. Volume II Part I Frameworks and approaches: approaches to the study of the EC - the challenge to comparative politics, S. Hix; domestic politics and European Community policy making, S. Bulmer; the governance of the European Union - a new institutionalist approach, S. Bulmer; decision making inthe European Union towards a framework for analysis, J. Peterson; corporate actor networks in the European policy making - harmonizing telecommunications policy. Part II Features and aspects: the joint decision trap - lessons from German federalism and European integration, F. Scharpf; international co-operation and institutional choice - the European Community's internal market, G. Garret; issue linkage in the European Community, S. Weber and H. Wiesmith; Maastricht and social protocol - why did they do it?, P. Lange;(Part contents)