Suchergebnisse

"Die Mobilisierung privater und öffentlicher Akteure auf nationaler und lokaler Ebene beeinflußt in entscheidendem Maße die Wirkung des europäischen Richterrechts auf die Regierungspraktiken der EU-Mitgliedsstaaten im Bereich der Gleichstellung der Geschlechter. Dies betrifft sowohl Aktivitäten, die es ermöglichen, eigene Interessen mit europäischen Gesetzen und Standards durchzusetzen, als auch diejenigen Aktivitäten, die solchen Bemühungen entgegenwirken. Um die Bedingungen herauszustellen, unter denen auf diese Weise die Rechtspolitik beeinflußt wird, bewertet die vorliegende Studie eine Reihe von Variablen, die den Grad der Offenheit nationaler Regierungs- und Rechtsprechungssysteme bestimmen und damit die Wahrscheinlichkeit der Mobilisierung in den drei Mitgliedstaaten. Es wird aufgezeigt, inwiefern sich diese Faktoren auf die Verbreitung des europäischen Richterrechts im Bereich der Gleichstellung der Geschlechter positiv oder negativ auswirken. Das Fazit der Studie ist, daß die Mechanismen hinter der Interaktion zwischen Rechtsprechung und Politik neu überdacht werden müssen angesichts der wachsenden Komplexität und Bedeutung der europäischen Politik." [Autorenreferat]

Spatial characterizations of agents' preferences lie at the heart of many theories of political competition. These give rise to explicitly dimensional interpretations. Parties define and differentiate themselves in terms of substantive policy issues, and the configuration of such issues that is required for a good description of political competition affects how we think substantively about the underlying political space in which parties compete. For this reason a great deal of activity in political science consists of estimating such configurations in particular real settings. We focus on three main issues in this article. First, we discuss the nature of political differences and from this construct an interpretation of the dimensionality of the political space needed to describe a given real setting, underscoring the essentially metaphorical and instrumental use of this concept. Second, we contrast ex ante and ex post interpretations of this dimensionality. Third, we illustrate potential hazards arising from the purely inductive estimation of political spaces using a spatial example from the physical world and political competition in the European Parliament as a political example.

The European Union's stalled expansion, the Euro deficit and emerging crises of economic and political sovereignty in Greece, Italy and Spain have significantly altered the image of the EU as a model of progressive civilization. However, despite recent events the EU maintains its international image as the paragon of European politics and global governance. This book unites leading scholars on Europe and Empire to revisit the view of the European Union as an 'imperial' power. It offers a re-appraisal of the EU as empire in response to geopolitical and economic developments since 2007 and asks.

Abstract.  The regulation and supervision of financial services in the European Union (EU) has undergone major reform between 1999 and 2004. This policy evolution is theoretically interesting, raising the question of which conceptual approaches better explain it, and it is also empirically relevant because it is an area of intense EU activity. This article provides a theoretically informed and empirically grounded explanation of the policy reform by evaluating the analytical leverage of three integration theories, mainly by relying on two methods – process tracing and congruence procedure – employing a variety of primary and secondary sources. It is argued that sequencing different theoretical approaches –interdependence, supranational governance and liberal intergovernmentalism– explains the various stages of the policy‐making process – namely, background‐setting, agenda‐setting and decision making, as well as the main features of the outcome.