61. Legitimate Rule in the European Union
- Author:
- Frank Schimmelfennig
- Publication Date:
- 08-1996
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute of European Studies
- Abstract:
- Two seemingly contradictory trends dominate the European debate over legitimate rule. On the one hand, there appears to be no ideologically viable alternative to liberal democracy following the collapse of the Eastern Bloc. On the other, the rapid progress of European integration has triggered an intense public debate over the European Union's "legitimacy deficit" and active popular opposition in many Western European countries. This paper asks whether these two seemingly contradictory developments can be reconciled. It argues that they can once it is recognized that the modern inter-state system is undergoing profound change. State sovereignty is being undermined by the trans-nationalization of foreign policy and the inter-nationalization of governance. In particular, the European Union has crossed the border from horizontal (or anarchical) interstate cooperation to vertical (or hierarchical) policy making in a multi-level political system in which states are but one level of the policy.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Economics, Government, International Organization, and Sovereignty
- Political Geography:
- Europe