Description
Book SynopsisDemocracy in Europe is about the impact of European integration on national democracies. It argues that the oft-cited democratic deficit is indeed a problem, but not so much at the level of the European Union per se as at the national level. This is because national leaders and publics have yet to come to terms with the institutional impact of the EU on the traditional workings of their national democracies. The book begins with a discussion of what the EU is-a new form of ''regional state'' in which sovereignty is shared, boundaries are variable, identity composite, and democracy fragmented. It then goes on to examine the effects of this on EU member-states'' institutions and ideas about democracy, finding that institutional ''fit'' matters. The ''compound'' EU, in which governing activity is highly dispersed among multiple authorities, is more disruptive to ''simple'' polities like Britain and France, where governing activity has traditionally been more concentrated in a single autho
Trade ReviewSchmidt's book is a valuable and well-written contribution to the analysis of the impact of European integration on national democracy Stanislaw Konopacki, University of Lodz Vivien A. Schmidt has written an important book for academics and sudents of the European Union James Caporaso in Political Science Quarterly Vivien Schmidt has now produced an excellent truly comparative analysis, grounded on an extensive bibliography and on a massive amount of public opinion data Vivien Schmidt has written an important book Ben Crum inEuropean Law Journal
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Democracy in Europe ; 1. The European Union as Regional State ; 2. The European Union and National Institutions ; 3. The European Union and National Policymaking ; 4. The European Union and National Polities ; 5. Theorizing Democracy in Europe ; Conclusion: The Prospects for Democracy in Europe
