European Integration and Political Conflict

Description

Over the past half-century, Europe has experienced the most radical reallocation of authority that has ever taken place in peace-time, yet the ideological conflicts that will emerge from this are only now becoming apparent. The editors of this volume, Gary Marks and Marco Steenbergen, have brought together a formidable group of scholars of European and comparative politics to investigate patterns of conflict that are arising in the European Union. Using diverse sources of data, and examining a range of actors, including citizens, political parties, members of the European Parliament, social movements, and interest groups, the authors of this volume conclude that political contestation concerning European integration is indeed rooted in the basic conflicts that have shaped political life in Western Europe for many years. This comprehensive volume provides the most up-to-date analysis of political conflict in the European Union.

Gary Marks is Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and founding Director of the UNC Center for European Studies. Marks' recent books include Multi-Level Governance and European Integration (with Liesbet Hooghe, 2001), and It Didn't Happen Here: Why Socialism Failed in the United States (with Seymour Martin Lipset, 2000). Marco R. Steenbergen is Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

'... unlike many collections of this type, they do not read like a set of conference proceedings. The contributions come together successfully in order to form a coherent whole ... formidable theoretical and empirical combination ... this collection will be very useful to both students and researchers. Not only does it provide valuable insights into the relationship between European integration and political conflict, it also sets an agenda for future work in this area ... the text poses problems as often as it answers questions.' Journal of European Affairs '... the comparative framework, the rigorous analysis and the innovative techniques developed in the book will undoubtedly shape EU studies in the coming years.' Political Studies Review ' ... it brings together a formidable group of scholars who offer an erudite and provocative investigation of the patterns of political conflict arising in the EU ... this book stands out as being more than just a description of events ... the 19 contributors provide an ingenious and sophisticated involvement that is well argued and in many places very convincing.' Journal of International Relations and Development