"Democracy and European integration theory in the 1990s"

Chryssochoou, Dimitris N. (1997) "Democracy and European integration theory in the 1990s". In: UNSPECIFIED, Seattle, WA. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

At the dawn of a new millennium, a fundamental theoretical challenge confronts the student of European integration: to conceptualise the emerging patterns of interaction between the European Union (EU) and its component state/citizen parts, by taking into account the intersection between different theoretical approaches. The aim is to enhance our understanding of the structural conditions and operational dynamics of Union governance, as they unfold against the background of a formal constitutional revision. Whatever the end-product of the revision process may be, the following questions warrant our attention. What is new about the nature of integration in the 1990s? Is it possible to classify the emerging Euro-polity under a comprehensive model of governance? If yes, then what are the appropriate theoretical lenses to that end? What are the limits and possibilities of an 'ever closer union' among distinct, yet highly interdependent, polities? Has a terminal state of union become discernible? And finally, what is the dominant character of the relationship between democracy (as demos control) and integration (as polity formation) in the post-Maastricht era?

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