Suchergebnisse

"This chapter explores challenges associated with the use of Europeanization as an explanatory variable in accounting for domestic institutional and policy developments. It covers a range of issues, including the conceptual and empirical relationship between Europeanization and globalization. This is an important and in many ways analytically prior task, for no other reason than that one cannot hope to assess accurately the extent of Europeanization and its implications if one cannot distinguish it from other large-scale processes at work in contemporary Europe. Domestic systems are subject to a vast range of causal forces both endogenous and exogenous, and selecting one out-in this case, Europeanization-for close, careful examination presupposes an ability to differentiate it conceptually and empirically. The chapter also presents a set of arguments supporting the basic methodological approach adopted by the contributors to this volume, which shuns a macro or aggregate perspective in favour of one premised on the wisdom and logic of parsing: specifically, taking articulated components of the domestic system-typically policies and/or institutions-and devising rigorous searches for the presence or absence of Europeanization." (author's abstract)

"This chapter seeks to explore the Europeanization of the "new" member states in their pre-accession stage. Does the domestic impact of European integration differ from the effects we have observed in the "old" member states? Can we use the analytical and theoretical toolbox developed for Europeanization processes in the "West" for the exploration and explanation of Europeanization in accession countries? The first part of the chapter summarizes the key insights of the literature on Europeanization with regard to the EU's impact on its member states, and the mechanisms through which this impact occurs. The second part explores to what extent the empirical findings and theoretical approaches generated by the research on "old" member states apply to the Europeanization of accession countries. The chapter concludes with some remarks on the implications of the Europeanization process in Central and Eastern European countries for the effectiveness and legitimacy of EU policy-making." (Autorenreferat)

"Since the 1980s, the German party system has changed. The relative stable 'two-and-a-half party' system of the 1960s and 1970s has become a fluid five-party system. This development can generally be attributed to changes on the demand and supply sides of party competition and to the changing institutional framework. The European integration process is part of this institutional framework and the chapter deals with the question of whether it has influenced the development of the party system at the national level. To systematically analyse the possible impact, eight party-system properties are distinguished-format, fragmentation, asymmetry, volatility, polarization, legitimacy, segmentation, and coalition stability. The analysis shows that one cannot speak of a Europeanization of the German party system in the sense of a considerable impact of the European integration process on its development. Up to now, the inclusion of Germany in the systemic context of the EU has not led to noticeable changes of party-system properties. On the demand side of party competition, this is due to the fact that the EU issue does not influence the citizens' electoral decisions. On the supply side, the lack of Europeanization can be explained mainly by the traditional, interest-based pro-European élite consensus, the low potential for political mobilization around European integration, and the marginal role of ethnocentrist-authoritarian parties." (author's abstract)

"Although in the 1990s Germany played a leading role in transforming justice and home affairs into a major policy-making field for the EU, these areas have been much less Europeanized at the national level than Germany's key role at the European level would suggest. Germany has been quite active-and in some cases, such as Schengen and Europol-also relatively successful in trying to 'upload' domestic preferences and models to the European level. But Europeanization has remained very much a government-led process with hardly any impact on public opinion and society. The 'downloading' has been largely limited to selective legislative changes as a result of the growing EC/EU acquis, and to the increased involvement of administrative and law-enforcement agencies in the European co-operation procedures and structures. One of main reasons for this imbalance between the 'uploading' and 'downloading' dimensions of Europeanization is the limited interest of the political establishment in the Europeanization of internal security issues that are still considered as valuable national 'vote winners'. Another reason is the only recent development and lack of transparency of EU justice and home affairs. In addition, the conservatism of practitioners in ministries, courts, and law-enforcement agencies plays a role. The importance of the Europeanization of parts of the German state should not be underestimated. At the same time, the absence of a wider Europeanization of state and society makes German participation in the further development of EU justice and home affairs unduly dependent on changes in government policy and priorities." (author's abstract)

Der Beitrag untersucht Zusammenhänge zwischen einer integrierten europäischen Bildungspolitik und den Möglichkeiten der gesamteuropäischen Integration. Öffentliche Erziehung und Nationen- bzw. Staatenbildung sind für den Autor Zwillinge. Geklärt wird zunächst die Frage, ob so etwas wie ein europäisches Bildungssystem identifiziert werden kann bzw. im entstehen ist. Durch einen internationalen Vergleich der nationalen Bildungswesen werden mögliche Konvergenzen herausgearbeitet. Vor dem Hintergrund der überwiegenden Heterogenitäten identifiziert der Autor empirisch eine erstaunliche Ähnlichkeiten in der Bildungsreformpolitik der europäischen Länder. Es wird dann daher die Frage geklärt, ob diese Konvergenzen auf neue Kompetenzen der EU im europäischen Integrationsprozess zurückgeführt werden können oder ob diese Entwicklung dem Wettbewerbsdruck eines globalisierten Kapitalismus geschuldet ist. Abschließend folgen einige "Spekulationen" zur Zukunft einer gemeinsamen europäischen Bildungskonzeption mit gemeinsamen institutionellen Ausgestaltungen. (ICA).

Examines the growing tendency for transnational actors to join in protests against centralized targets. Issues addressed include the likelihood of transnational European mobilization becoming a common phenomenon; how these mobilizations are linked to patterns of European integration; & the potential for a new form of citizen politics. Quantitative analyses of the effects of European integration on contentious politics across member-states of the European Union (EU) are described using a data set on European contentious politics drawn from 1984-1997 Reuters newswire reports. Protests included both domesticated & transnational European protests, with the latter subdivided into cooperative transnationalism, competitive transnationalism, & collective European protest. It was found that formation of the EU has spawned new opportunities as well as constraints for domestic social actors, eg, farmers, fishermen, construction workers, & miners. Further, the largest proportion of contentious political responses to the policies of the EU took domestic rather than transnational forms. 6 Tables, 2 Figures. J. Lindroth

Examines the growing tendency for transnational actors to join in protests against centralized targets. Issues addressed include the likelihood of transnational European mobilization becoming a common phenomenon; how these mobilizations are linked to patterns of European integration; & the potential for a new form of citizen politics. Quantitative analyses of the effects of European integration on contentious politics across member-states of the European Union (EU) are described using a data set on European contentious politics drawn from 1984-1997 Reuters newswire reports. Protests included both domesticated & transnational European protests, with the latter subdivided into cooperative transnationalism, competitive transnationalism, & collective European protest. It was found that formation of the EU has spawned new opportunities as well as constraints for domestic social actors, eg, farmers, fishermen, construction workers, & miners. Further, the largest proportion of contentious political responses to the policies of the EU took domestic rather than transnational forms. 6 Tables, 2 Figures. J. Lindroth