Democratic Politics in a European Union Under Stress

Edited by Olaf Cramme and Sara B. Hobolt

First comprehensive analysis of the Euro crisis and its impact on democratic politics in Europe
Contributions from a number of world leading scholars

Democratic Politics in a European Union Under Stress

Edited by Olaf Cramme and Sara B. Hobolt

Description

This book offers the first comprehensive political analysis of the Euro crisis that erupted in Greece in 2010 and subsequently threatened the very survival of the Euro area. It has left a profound mark on democratic politics all over Europe, changing public attitudes and voting preferences, institutional and societal norms, and deeply anchored political traditions.

The contributors to this volume reveal the extent to which policymakers are torn between the pressures emanating from financial markets and the demands put forward by their own constituents; how they struggle to reconcile national preferences with wider European interests; and how a polarized and politicized Union seeks to maintain some degree of cohesion. The emerging picture is that of a European Union under serious stress, transformed by new governance structures and a shifting balance of power. In response, the authors evaluate the prospects of a more legitimate and democratic Europe. They provide a rich and pluralist set of new analyses and proposals, aimed at understanding and navigating the myriad tensions which surround the EU in the aftermath of the crisis. If the European project is to regain the trust of its citizens, such considerations must take a central place in public debate.

Democratic Politics in a European Union Under Stress

Edited by Olaf Cramme and Sara B. Hobolt

1. A European Union under Stress, Olaf Cramme and Sara B. Hobolt
The Political Consequences of the Crisis
2. Political Legitimacy in a Non-Optimal Currency Area, Fritz W. Scharpf
3. Public Attitudes towards the Euro Crisis, Sara B. Hobolt
4. The Europeanization of the National Political Debate, Hanspeter Kriesi and Edgar Grande
5. Politicizing Europe: The Challenge of Executive Discretion, Jonathan White
6. The Role of National Legislatures in EU Politics, Tapio Raunio
7. Differentiated Integration Before and After the Crisis, Frank Schimmelfennig
Prospects for a more Legitimate and Democratic Europe
8. The Insurance Potential of a Non-Optimal Currency Area, Waltraud Schelkle
9. EU Law-Making and the State of European Democratic Agency, Damian Chalmers and Mariana Chaves
10. Democratizing a Macroeconomic Union in Europe, Simon Hix
11. Democratic Standards in an Asymmetric Union, Andreas Follesdal
12. Rethinking Electoral Democracy in Europe, Catherine E. de Vries
13. The Need for Legitimate Opposition and Protectionism, Sverker Gustavsson

Democratic Politics in a European Union Under Stress

Edited by Olaf Cramme and Sara B. Hobolt

Author Information

Olaf Cramme is Director of Policy Network and a Visiting Fellow at the European Institute of the London School of Economics. Previously, he was a lecturer in European politics at London Metropolitan University and worked as a parliamentary researcher in the UK Houses of Parliament. He is co-editor (with Patrick Diamond and Michael McTernan) of Progressive Politics after the Crash (IB Tauris, 2013), After the Third Way (IB Tauris, 2012) and Social Justice in the Global Age (Polity Press, 2009).

Sara Hobolt is Sutherland Chair in European Institutions and Professor at the European Institute of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Previously, she has held posts at the University of Oxford and the University of Michigan. She has published extensively on European Union politics, public opinion, and elections. Her most recent book is Blaming Europe? Responsibility Without Accountability in the European Union (2014, Oxford University Press), co-authored with James Tilley.

Contributors:

Damian Chalmers, London School of Economics and Political Science
Mariana Chaves, University of Durham
Olaf Cramme, Policy Network, UK, and London School of Economics' European Institute
Catherine E. De Vries, University of Oxford
Andreas Føllesdal, University of Oslo
Edgar Grande, University of Munich
Sverker Gustavsson, Uppsala University
Simon Hix, London School of Economics and Political Science
Sara B. Hobolt, London School of Economics
Hanspeter Kriesi, European University Institute in Florence, Italy
Tapio Raunio, University of Tampere
Fritz W. Scharpf, Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Societies, Germany
Waltraud Schelkle, London School of Economics and Political Science
Frank Schimmelfennig, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Jonathan White, London School of Economics and Political Science

Democratic Politics in a European Union Under Stress

Edited by Olaf Cramme and Sara B. Hobolt

Reviews and Awards

"Cramme and Hobolt bring together some leading academic minds to puzzle through deeper questions. Is the EU politically sustainable? If so, in what form? What are the implications of the euro for democratic participation? In general, the contributors are skeptical that the EU will be able to put itself back together again in anything like its previous form, but they remain equally skeptical of radical reform. Anyone interested in the future of Europe should read this book." -Foreign Affairs