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European Integration: From Nation-States to Member States
European integration confuses citizens and scholars alike. It appears to transfer power away from national capitals towards Brussels yet a close study of the EU reveals the absence of any real leap towards supranationalism. The EU is dominated by cooperation between national representatives and national officials yet it continually appears to us as something external and separate from national political life. This book takes on these paradoxes by arguing that European integration should no longer be studied as the transcendence of states or as merely an expression of national interests. Rather, we should approach it as a process of state transformation. This transformation is from nation-state to member state. The book explores in detail the concept of member state, arguing that it provides us with the best tool for understanding the European integration process. Member states differ from traditional nation-states. They are not founded on the idea of popular sovereignty or the nation. They rest upon the idea that the governance of domestic societies requires external frameworks of rule that can bind the hands of national politicians. National authority is thus exercised through external rules and norms. Member statehood differs from earlier forms of statehood because it rests upon a presumption of conflict between state and society rather than an identity of interests between ruler and ruled. The book outlines in empirical detail these mysteries and paradoxes of European integration. It then outlines in detail the theory and history of member statehood. It applies the concept of member state to the study of two EU policy areas: macro-economic governance and foreign and security policy.
230 pages, ebook
First published October 17, 2012
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March 29, 2018
I really enjoyed this book- although Bickerton's argument is essentialist and overly linear in some respects, it provides a very useful framework for the development of the modern EU, one which retains the primacy of the state, and thus can be of interest to general readers.
5 Key Arguments:
1. "European integration corresponds to the shift from one form of state- the nation state- to another, the member state. Central to this process of transformation is the way the state-society relationship has been relativized, becoming only one relationship amongst others constitutive of statehood. In contrast to traditional nation states, national governments of member states understand their power and identity as dependent upon their belonging to a wider group or community. This determines their decision-making procedures, shapes their institutional apparatus, and provides for them a distinct social purpose.” (12)
2. "In the rewriting of the social contract of the post-war Golden Age that took place in the 1970s and 1980s, the primacy of the state-society relationship faded as governments undid the various relationships and rights that made up the national corporatist state. In their place, we have seen a strengthening of the relations between national executives at the pan-European level.” (13)
3. “The transition to member statehood corresponds to a shift in Europe away from traditional Left-Right cleavages towards a new political spectrum organised around the twin poles of populism and technocracy.” (17-18)
4. “If populism and technocracy converge in their common critique of political representation, we can see how they fit with member statehood as a form of state. Indeed, we can say that technocracy and populism are two sides of the member state coin... These two trends combine, in a Europe of member states, into what we can call here the emergence of populist technocracies.” (188)
5. “Attempts by [national] governments to insulate themselves from public expectations have evolved over time into the idea that animates today’s member states: the pursuit of external constraints upon political power as the best defence against the excesses of majoritarian politics.” (195)
5 Key Arguments:
1. "European integration corresponds to the shift from one form of state- the nation state- to another, the member state. Central to this process of transformation is the way the state-society relationship has been relativized, becoming only one relationship amongst others constitutive of statehood. In contrast to traditional nation states, national governments of member states understand their power and identity as dependent upon their belonging to a wider group or community. This determines their decision-making procedures, shapes their institutional apparatus, and provides for them a distinct social purpose.” (12)
2. "In the rewriting of the social contract of the post-war Golden Age that took place in the 1970s and 1980s, the primacy of the state-society relationship faded as governments undid the various relationships and rights that made up the national corporatist state. In their place, we have seen a strengthening of the relations between national executives at the pan-European level.” (13)
3. “The transition to member statehood corresponds to a shift in Europe away from traditional Left-Right cleavages towards a new political spectrum organised around the twin poles of populism and technocracy.” (17-18)
4. “If populism and technocracy converge in their common critique of political representation, we can see how they fit with member statehood as a form of state. Indeed, we can say that technocracy and populism are two sides of the member state coin... These two trends combine, in a Europe of member states, into what we can call here the emergence of populist technocracies.” (188)
5. “Attempts by [national] governments to insulate themselves from public expectations have evolved over time into the idea that animates today’s member states: the pursuit of external constraints upon political power as the best defence against the excesses of majoritarian politics.” (195)
Displaying 1 of 1 review