"European integration theory and organizational theory: Perhaps an ideal match for analysis of the Europeanisation process?"

Britz, Malena. (2001) "European integration theory and organizational theory: Perhaps an ideal match for analysis of the Europeanisation process?". In: UNSPECIFIED, Madison, Wisconsin. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

This paper will discuss what the contribution might be if organizational theory and European integration theory are brought together in an effort to analyse the Europeanisation of defense industrial policy and its consequences for defense equipment procurement in Sweden. Methodological questions that have to be considered when different theories are linked will also be discussed. As a result of the European integration process, policy processes change character. From the point of view of a single state, this phenomenon can be described as “Europeanisation.” The question is how the concept of Europeanisation is to be analysed theoretically. There is no “theory of Europeanisation.” European integration theory seems to be a first option. However, traditional European integration theory has been criticised for being too focused either on intergovernmental actors and outcomes, or on supranational actors and outcomes. It has been suggested that more traditional European integration theories be complemented by the ideas of multilevel governance. But this approach is problematic in several ways. One is that while the ideas of multilevel governance emphasize the importance of the contacts that actors on different levels have with each other, they say nothing about the significance of different kinds of relationships among different actors. Linking organizational theory to European integration theory may be fertile for an analysis of Europeanisation, since organizational theory explores what the different relationships are among actors in certain environment, and how that environment influences the behaviour and development of those actors.

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