Suchergebnisse

Many authors have discussed issues connected with the EU's quest for more legitimacy through establishing a collective identity. A plethora of publications stress that collective identity contributes in a crucial manner to societal and political cohesion among EU citizens and EU elites. The EU has been trying to construct a collective identity by applying identity technologies towards its own citizens. These identity technologies work in a top-down manner. Adapted from the source document.

Constitutionalization - the creation of a formal 'constitution' for the European Union - has been seen as a response to the eastern enlargement, on the basis of the three main functions of constitutions: the organizational function, the stabilization function and the legitimating function. However, functional arguments are not sufficient for explaining the constitutionalization of the EU as a response to this enlargement. An alternative explanation refers to the behaviour of the large member states acting in their own self-interest to shift the power relations in the EU in their favour. Using conventions as the method of bringing this about has served both to legitimize and to conceal this motivation. This factor in the evolution of the European Union carries implications for the countries that aspire to become EU members. Adapted from the source document.

This Living Review presents an overview of the research on European identity in the context of EU governance by focusing on central debates in the political science literature. It departs from the problems of disagreement between European citizens and their elites as well as the lack of a European demos. Against this background, the article discusses the functions of collective identity including the legitimation function and solution of collective dilemmas. Here, two perspectives pertaining to these functions are depicted: first, the issue of European public space and second, the integrative workings of European citizenship. Next, the article explores the conceptual and methodological problems of the research on European collective identity. In particular, it focuses on the conceptual ambiguity of the collective identity term, causes of confusion in European identity research and problems of operationalization and measurement. Following this, the article discusses the literature on identity technologies of the EU and identifies the shortcomings of identity technologies with regard to EU governance. Adapted from the source document.

This Living Review presents an overview of the research on European identity in the context of EU governance by focussing on central debates in the political science literature. It departs from the problems of disagreement between European citizens and their elites as well as the lack of a European demos. Against this background, the article discusses the functions of collective identity including the legitimation function and solution of collective dilemmas. Here, two perspectives pertaining to these functions are depicted: first, the issue of European public space and second, the integrative workings of European citizenship. Next, the article explores the conceptual and methodological problems of the research on European collective identity. In particular, it focuses on the conceptual ambiguity of the collective identity term and problems of operationalization and measurement. Following this, the article discusses the literature on identity technologies of the EU and identifies the shortcomings of identity technologies with regard to EU governance. Adapted from the source document.