"Democracy at Risk? The Impact of European Integration on National Patterns of Policy-making"

Schmidt, Vivien A. (1995) "Democracy at Risk? The Impact of European Integration on National Patterns of Policy-making". In: UNSPECIFIED, Charleston, SC. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

This paper explores the impact of European integration on member-states' policy-making processes and democracy. It first examines the similarities in impact, particular the diminution in member-states' governmental autonomy with the subordination of national institutions to European institutions, whether national ministries, courts, or standard-setting bodies, and with the loss of national control over national constituencies such as business interests and regional authorities. The paper then focuses on the differences in effects related to member-states' particular state-society relationship and on other factors related to country size, institutions, culture, history, and economic structure and competitiveness. It finds that the policy-making processes of the smaller European countries have suffered the greatest amount of disruption from integration, followed by France, whereas Germany, Britain, and Italy, for very different reasons, have so far experienced the least.

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