Search results
10 The good supranational constitution In Chapter 5, I argued that political agency was inherently collective. Agency’s being political at all presupposes social interaction. For reasons of both practicability and normative satisfactoriness, decision-making on matters of public interest needs to take place between agents in concert. Chapter 9 treated relations between individuals simpliciter; this considers relations between pre-constituted groups. Political agency involves the formation of collective political subjects mobilised around the pursuit of collective
3436 Unpacking international organisations:2833Prelims 22/3/10 14:56 Page 138 7 Supranational dynamics in international bureaucracies Exploring supranational dynamics In this chapter we will investigate how supranational dynamics are played out among civil servants working in the bureaucracies of the WTO, the OECD and the Commission. In order to do this, we need to have a clear understanding of what ‘supranational dynamics’ are. What do we mean by ‘supranationalism’ and what is a ‘supranational mode of governance’? What does it mean to act and behave
This book offers a conception of citizenship that is independent of any specific form of political organisation, while being compatible with multiple levels of political institutionalisation. Its de-contextualised account of citizenship differs from both cosmopolitan and nation-statist accounts. Using that conception, the book addresses topical and normative debates in one particular transnational political association: the European Union. Bringing political theory together with debates in international relations and in citizenship studies, the author argues that citizenship should be understood as an institutional role through which persons might exercise their political agency: their capacities to shape the contexts of their lives and promote the freedom and well-being of themselves and, importantly, fulfil their duties to others within and outside of the polity. The work draws on the rights-based philosophy of Alan Gewirth.
differently: ‘the Commission is no neutral arbiter or technocracy, but a player with vested interests of its own to promote’. Its main interests are to establish itself as a crucial actor in different policy areas and thus to drive forward the process of European integration. Peterson and Birdsall (2008, p. 69) therefore make the argument that, in fact, it is not just a supranational actor defending the
’s Movement (MUDHA), with legal support from organisations in the United States, brought a test case through the Inter-American human rights system. In 2005, this test became the first case found against the Dominican Republic, using this supra-national mechanism for legal redress. Dilcia Yean and Violeta Bosico, two girls born in their homes in bateyes (settlements located around
9 Mutual recognition in the supranational polity In earlier chapters it was argued that citizenship, being an institutional role, is not reducible to nor incorporates as a component the social relations between persons, and that these must be conceptually and theoretically distinguished from it. However, social relations are not irrelevant to citizenship. This chapter examines what relations must obtain between the inhabitants of the EU as agents or as natural persons, if these interpersonal relationships are to be adequate for political agency and thus
This book explores how regional political parties use Europe to advance their territorial projects in times of rapid state restructuring. It examines the ways in which decentralisation and supranational integration have encouraged regional parties to pursue their strategies across multiple territorial levels. The book constitutes the first attempt to unravel the complexities of how nationalist and statewide parties manoeuvre around the twin issues of European integration and decentralisation, and exploit the shifting linkages within multi-level political systems. In a detailed comparative examination of three cases—Scotland, Bavaria and Sardinia—over a thirty-year period, it explores how integration has altered the nature of territorial party competition and identifies the limits of Europe for territorial projects. In addressing these issues, this work moves beyond present scholarship on multi-level governance to explain the diversity of regional responses to Europe. It provides insights and empirical research on the conduct of territorial party politics, and a model of territorial mobilisation in Europe.
This book introduces international bureaucracy as a key field of study for public administration and also rediscovers international bureaucracy as an essential ingredient in the study of international organizations. Firstly, the book systematically compares behavioural dynamics within a carefully selected number of international bureaucracies. The focus is on studying these dynamics within international bureaucracies at the actor level - that is, by studying the behaviour and roles as perceived by the officials themselves. The book outlines a conceptual map of four generic behavioural dynamics that are likely to be evoked by these officials: intergovernmental, supranational, departmental and epistemic dynamics. Essentially, the Westphalian international order dominated by the intergovernmental dynamic is challenged to the extent that international bureaucracies embed supranational, departmental and epistemic dynamics in everyday decision-making processes. Admittedly, there are no guarantees that these dynamics always materialise in the actors' behaviour and ultimately in the decisions reached by international organisations. However, they serve as cognitive and normative frames for action, rendering it more likely than not that particular decision-making dynamics are associated with certain behavioural patterns. Secondly, the book illuminates some causal factors that may help to explore the conditions under which different behavioural dynamics are manifested in the behavioural and role perceptions of the incumbents of international bureaucracies. Essentially, the authors do not propose to 'test' the four dynamics outlined above in a rigorous manner. They serve more as 'searchlights for illuminating empirical patterns in our data'.
This book makes an important contribution to the existing literature on European social democracy in the wake of the 2008 financial crash and ensuing recession. It considers ways in which European social democratic parties at both the national and European level have responded to the global economic crisis (GEC). The book also considers the extent to which the authors might envisage alternatives to the neo-liberal consensus being successfully promoted by those parties within the European Union (EU). The book first explores some of the broader thematic issues underpinning questions of the political economy of social democracy during the GEC. Then, it addresses some of the social democratic party responses that have been witnessed at the level of the nation state across Europe. The book focuses in particular on some of the countries with the longest tradition of social democratic and centre-left party politics, and therefore focuses on western and southern Europe. In contrast to the proclaimed social democratic (and especially Party of European Socialists) ambitions, the outcomes witnessed at the EU level have been less promising for those seeking a supranational re-social democratization. In order to understand the EU-level response of social democratic party actors to the Great Recession, the book situates social democratic parties historically. In the case of the British Labour Party, it also identifies the absence of ideological alternatives to the 'there is no alternative' (TINA)-logic that prevailed under the leadership of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
The European Commission had become one of the more contentious actors during both Irish referenda on the Lisbon Treaty. This book discusses the role of the European Commission and institutions more generally, as well as the policy area of justice and home affairs. It argues that it is important to evaluate the role of EU institutions for the process of European integration. The book suggests a reconceptualisation of the framework of supranational policy entrepreneurs (SPEs), which is often referred to by the academic literature that discusses the role of agency in European integration. It focuses on the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) at the policy and treaty levels; primarily on four grounds: academic literature, SPE behaviour, EU's policymaking, and the interplay between treaty negotiations and policy-making. To analyse the role of the European institutions, the book combines an analysis of the Lisbon Treaty in relation to the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice with an analysis of the policy-making in the same area. The public policy model by John Kingdon with constructivist international relations literature is also outlined. The external dimension of counter-terrorism in the EU; the role of the EU institutions in EU asylum and migration; and the role of he Common European Asylum System (CEAS) is discussed. The book also analyses the role of the EU institutions in the communitarisation of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, in the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, and thus subsequently in the Lisbon Treaty.