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This book explores the changing economic, political, and legal dynamics of European integration since the Maastricht Treaty was signed in 1992, and puts forward a provocative new approach, 'the new intergovernmentalism', which challenges many conventional assumptions underpinning traditional theories of European integration and governance.

Combining international political theory and EU studies, Richard Bellamy provides an original account of the democratic legitimacy of international organisations. He proposes a new interpretation of the EU's democratic failings and how they might be addressed. Drawing on the republican theory of freedom as non-domination, Bellamy proposes a way to combine national popular sovereignty with the pursuit of fair and equitable relations of non-domination among states and their citizens. Applying this approach to the EU, Bellamy shows that its democratic failings lie not with the democratic deficit at the EU level but with a democratic disconnect at the member state level. Rather than shifting democratic authority to the European Parliament, this book argues that the EU needs to reconnect with the different 'demoi' of the member states by empowering national parliaments in the EU policy-making process.

The European Council and the Council are presently perhaps the most important European Union institutions yet little is know about the reasons behind the importance of the two bodies. This book provides a comprehensive account of the leadership roles of the European Council and the Council in European politics.

The Ebb and Flow of Global Governance challenges the traditionally dichotomous distinction between international intergovernmental organizations and international nongovernmental organizations. Alexandru Grigorescu argues that international organizations are best understood as falling on an 'intergovernmental-nongovernmental continuum'. The placement of organizations on this continuum is determined by how much government involvement factors into their decision-making, financing, and deliberations. Using this fine-grained conceptualization, Grigorescu uncovers numerous changes in the intergovernmental versus nongovernmental nature of global governance over the past century and a half. These changes are due primarily to ideological and institutional domestic shifts in powerful states. The Ebb and Flow of Global Governance assesses the plausibility of these arguments through archival research on a dozen organizations from the global health, labor, and technical standards realms. Grigorescu concludes that there has been a continuous ebb and flow in world politics, rather than an inexorable movement towards greater roles for nongovernmental actors, as existing literature argues.

Institutional design at IGCs -- Case selection -- Modeling institutionalism and intergovernmentalism -- Testing institutionalism and intergovernmentalism -- Winners and losers at Amsterdam -- Council votes and commissioners -- Exit threats, veto rights, and integration -- British accession : exit options and veto power.

Intro -- Table of Contents -- Abbreviations -- List of Figures and Tables -- Notes on Contributors -- Introduction: Key Controversies in European Integration -- Can the EU survive? A community between crisis and revival -- The scholarly debate -- Structure and scope of this book -- 1: The European Union: Success or Failure? -- 1.1 Why Europe works -- Europe as a peacemaker -- Europe as a global leader -- Europe as an institutional model -- Conclusion -- 1.2 The rise and fall of the EU -- Historical record: good and bad -- A fatal crisis for the EU -- The end of EU-led integration -- Conclusion -- 2: More Powers for Brussels or Renationalization? -- 2.1 A stronger, more supranational Union -- Two levels of authority -- Conflicts between levels - a renationalization of powers to the member states? -- Conflicts within levels - a return to intergovernmentalism at the EU level? -- Conclusion -- 2.2 The new intergovernmentalism and European integration -- A new intergovernmentalism -- The integration paradox -- Deliberative intergovernmentalism -- A distinct period in EU integration -- Intergovernmentalism and the EU's disequilibrium -- Conclusion -- 3: How Democratic Is the EU? -- 3.1 The inevitability of a democratic deficit -- Democracy 'of' and 'by' the people: 'no demos' vs demos creation -- Democracy 'for' the people: regulatory and deliberative -- Conclusion -- 3.2 A democratic achievement, not just a democratic deficit -- Ought the EU be democratic? -- View 1: Member state democracies could exert more control over the Union -- View 2: The Union's own political system could be more democratic -- View 3: A limited but useful form of democratic control -- Conclusion -- 4: Too Much Power for the Judges? -- 4.1 Understanding the European Court's political power -- The European Court steps into a political vacuum.

Intro -- Preface and Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- List of Tables -- Chapter 1: Introduction -- 1.1 The Need for Explanations of European Disintegration -- 1.2 The Search for an Explanation of European Disintegration -- References -- Chapter 2: Neo-functionalism and European Disintegration -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Neo-functionalism and Integration -- 2.3 A Neo-functionalist Explanation of Disintegration Evaluated -- 2.4 Insights from Comparative Regionalism -- 2.5 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 3: Realism, Intergovernmentalism, and European Disintegration -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Realism and Cooperation in Europe -- 3.2.1 Neo-realist Accounts of Declining Cooperation and Their Evaluation -- 3.3 Intergovernmentalism -- 3.3.1 From Classical Realism to Neoliberal Institutionalism -- 3.3.2 Liberal Intergovernmentalism on European Integration -- 3.3.3 Liberal Intergovernmentalism and European Disintegration -- 3.3.4 Problems in the Intergovernmentalist Explanation of European (Dis)integration -- 3.4 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 4: Federalism and European Disintegration -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Comparative Federalism and Its Applicability to the European Union -- 4.3 Integration and Disintegration of Federal Political Systems -- 4.4 Secession and the European Union -- 4.5 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 5: Comparative Imperialism and European Disintegration -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 Empire as Comparative Category -- 5.3 Defining Empire and Imperialism -- 5.4 Is the EU an Empire? -- 5.5 Explaining the Decline and Fall of Empires -- 5.5.1 EU Theories Concerning Enlargement -- 5.6 Comparative Analysis of Disintegrating Empires -- 5.7 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 6: Towards a Proper Explanation of European Disintegration -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 Lessons Learned.