Political Theory of the European Union

Edited by Jürgen Neyer and Antje Wiener

An innovative attempt to present a Political Theory of the European Union
Contributors are leading experts in their respective fields

Political Theory of the European Union

Edited by Jürgen Neyer and Antje Wiener

Description

Debate about the theory underpinning the nature, workings, and development of the European (EU) has in many ways been hampered in recent years by an intellectual divergence in the two main ways that the EU is conceptualized. On the one hand is a political science and comparative government oriented strand that sees the EU as a political system in its own right. On the other is the international relations tradition which conceptualizes it as another international organization. Alongside this, the EU itself has developed a significant constitutional dimension. Indeed, the debate surrounding the 'Constitutional Treaty' presented several challenges to our capacity to grasp the normative change of this non-state polity. Despite the eventual contestation of the EU's 'constitutional turn' through the French and Dutch no-votes and the cumbersome procedure of ratifying the Lisbon Treaty in their aftermath, debates about the EU's constitutional quality have not ceased.

In the light of these developments, the editors of Political Theory of the European Union, along with their distinguished contributors, have attempted to create a more decisively interdisciplinary theoretical approach to studying the EU within the wider world-political context. Bringing together scholars in a range of disciplines across the social sciences to offer, not a complete theory, but rather a theoretical approach combining different stands of political and legal theory, the book aims to inspire further engagement with the central tenets of political authority and world order, sovereignty and constitutional change and democracy and justice, in the context of the EU's political development.

Political Theory of the European Union

Edited by Jürgen Neyer and Antje Wiener

1. Introduction: The State of the Art of a Non-State-Oriented Political Theory, Jürgen Neyer and Antje Wiener
Part One: Political Authority in a Changing World Order
2. Empire Europe: Statehood and Political Authority in the Process of Regional Integration, Ulrich Beck and Edgar Grande
3. Un-National Normative Justification for European Union Foreign Policy, Ian Manners
4. A State-Less Vanguard for a Rightful World Order, Erik O. Eriksen
Part Two: Sovereignty and Constitutional Change
5. Surface and Depth: The EU's Resilient Sovereignty Question, Neil Walker
6. How Does European Union Law Fit into the World of Public Law? Costa, Kadi, and Three Conceptions of Public Law, Mattias Kumm
7. Politics, Power, and a European Law of Suspicion, Michelle Everson
Part Three: Democracy and Justice
8. Europe's Justice Deficit: Justification and Legitimacy in The European Union, Jürgen Neyer
9. The Promise of 'Demoi-Cracy': Democracy, Diversity, and Domination in the European Public Order, Jan-Werner Müller
10. Non-State Oriented Political Theory: A Critical Assessment, Andreas Føllesdal
11. Conclusion: Through Uncharted Waters of Constitutional Quality: Navigating Between Modern Statehood and International Organisation, Antje Wiener

Political Theory of the European Union

Edited by Jürgen Neyer and Antje Wiener

Author Information

Jürgen Neyer was appointed to the Chair of Political Science at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt in April 2006 where he is currently also Managing Director of the Frankfurt Institute for Transformation Studies. Before coming to Frankfurt he was a Professor of International Relations at the Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe University of Frankfurt (Main) (2005-06) and the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich (2004). He has done research at various universities including the University of California at Berkeley, the Free University of Berlin, and the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

Antje Wiener was appointed to the Chair of Political Science and Global Governance at the University of Hamburg in April 2009 where she is currently also Managing Director of the Centre for Globalisation and Governance. Before coming to Hamburg she was a Professor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Bath (2007-09) and a Professor of International Studies at the Queen's University of Belfast where she had worked since 1999. She has taught at various universities including Stanford University, Sussex University, Carleton University, and the Free University of Berlin, and has held visiting fellowships at the Science Centre for Social Research in Berlin and at the Hanse Institute for Advanced Studies in Delmenhorst, Germany.

Contributors:

Ulrich Beck
Erik O. Eriksen
Michelle Everson
Andreas Føllesdal
Edgar Grande
Mattias Kumm
Ian Manners
Jan-Werner Müller
Neil Walker

Political Theory of the European Union

Edited by Jürgen Neyer and Antje Wiener

Reviews and Awards

"This book is a welcome attempt to bring together a range of different disciplinary insights with a view to developing a political theory of the European Union. The attempt is animated by both empirical and normative concerns: to better understand what kind of entity the EU is and the nature of the authority it exercises, as well as to assess the EU's claim to legitimacy and the quality of its democracy and justice. There are excellent contributions from leading scholars across the fields of international relations, law and political theory which interrogate these and other questions. While not purporting to provide a fully-fledged political theory of the EU, the book helps to identify some of the building blocks for a political theory of the EU, as well as setting out a rich array of research questions for the future."--Gráinne de Búrca, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

"Overall, this volume represents a new and important contribution to the study of the EU. While it raises new questions, it forthrightly states that the chapters contained within the text do not contain all of the answers. This is done for two reasons: First, to remind the reader that the EU is still a work in progress and will be for the foreseeable future; and second, to stir further research regarding the Political Theory of the European Union (PToEU) utilizing the techniques identified by the authors. Containing excellent research into primary and secondary sources, this study provides an excellent bibliography for those who wish to investigate and expand on the ideas and conclusions set forth here."--Reviews & Critical Commentary, Council for European Studies