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The European Union's (EU) powerful legal framework drives the process of European integration. The Court of Justice (ECJ) has established a uniquely effective supranational legal order, beyond the original wording of the Treaty of Rome and transforming our traditional understanding of international law. This work investigates how these fundamental transformations in the European legal system were received in one of the most important member states, Germany. On the one hand, Germany has been highly supportive of political and economic integration; yet on the other, a fundamental pillar of the post-war German identity was the integrity of its constitutional order. How did a state whose constitution was so essential to its self-understanding subscribe to the constitutional practice of EU law? How did a country who could not say 'no' to Europe become the member state most reluctant to accept the new power of the ECJ?
The collapse of the bipolar world sustained by the United States and the former Soviet Union led to a power vacuum in the 1990s that the European Union has only reluctantly begun to fill. It is under pressure to take over important international tasks and roles in order to develop a new equilibrium in the system of international relations. After 2000, reforms were undertaken so that the European Union could deal more efficiently with the tasks the new political system had acquired since the early 1990s. With respect to its international role, reorganization of the EU's external relations department was high on the list. The New World Architecture explores the contribution that the European U...
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Social capital is not only usefel for the person who owns it, but it may also foster the integration of a society and the stability of a democracy. Friendly relations, social trust and norms of reciprocity ease the living together in a society and encourage people to take part in democratic decision making. This volume examines the differences in levels, causes and consequences of social capital between 22 European countries surveyed in the 2002 European Social Survey. At first glance, social capital differs strongly between countries. Yet the determinants of social capital differ strongly between European people as well. If one takes account of the latter, the former may no longer appear so large. The volume asks whether this is indeed the case so that a similiarity of countries goes along with a diversity of people. To examine this, muliti-level analyses are used in each contribution.
Fifty years after the formation of the Federal Republic and a decade after German unification, we stand on the cusp of a new century and a new millennium of German history. At the same time EMU marks a giant stride towards European integration and the end of the Deutschmark. In this book, leading international scholars reflect on the dramatic transformations of Germany's past and on Germany's future prospects. Post-war democratic and economic renewal is set in the context of continuing debates about German identity. There are assessments of all major leaders, parties and ideologies; of the still unfinished agenda of integrating East and West; of how the next generation of German leaders will interact with ageing governmental structures; of the Bundesbank and the successes and failures of economic policy, the trade unions and the media; and of Germany's emerging new role in Europe and the world.
Voters on the Move or on the Run? addresses electoral change, the reasons for it, and its consequences. By investigating the complexity of voting and its context, the volume shows that increasingly heterogeneity is not arbitrary and unstructured.
An examination of European political transformation which aims to analyze social and political change within the European Community, and to investigate the implications of a changing institutional framework within a disaggregated Eastern Europe. This book is intended for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in political sociology and politics as well as relevant libraries and academics. It should have significant appeal to researchers and students in European studies and others with an interest in European integration.
This book sheds new light on the idea of a crisis of "ungovernability." By examining the expanding scope of government in the post-War period, and drawing on a vast data set stretching back over the last two decades and right across Europe, the book reveals public attitudes towards the range and extant of government activity.
Examining 36 democracies from 1945 to 2010, this text arrives at conclusions about what type of democracy works best. It demonstrates that consensual systems stimulate economic growth, control inflation and unemployment, and limit budget deficits.
Many fear that democracies are suffering from a legitimacy crisis. This book focuses on 'democratic deficits', reflecting how far the perceived democratic performance of any state diverges from public expectations. Pippa Norris examines the symptoms by comparing system support in more than fifty societies worldwide, challenging the pervasive claim that most established democracies have experienced a steadily rising tide of political disaffection during the third-wave era. The book diagnoses the reasons behind the democratic deficit, including demand (rising public aspirations for democracy), information (negative news about government) and supply (the performance and structure of democratic regimes). Finally, Norris examines the consequences for active citizenship, for governance and, ultimately, for democratization. This book provides fresh insights into major issues at the heart of comparative politics, public opinion, political culture, political behavior, democratic governance, political psychology, political communications, public policymaking, comparative sociology, cross-national survey analysis and the dynamics of the democratization process.