What Makes the EU Viable?: European Integration in the Light of the Antebellum US Experience

245 Pages·2009·1.853 MB·English

by  Andrew Glencross (auth.)

What Makes the EU Viable?
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What Makes the EU Viable?
European Integration in the Light of the
Antebellum US Experience
Andrew Glencross
Lecturer in International Relations
University of Pennsylvania, USA
© Andrew Glencross 2009
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-22450-6
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accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2009 by
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ISBN 978-1-349-30951-1 ISBN 978-0-230-24089-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230240896
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Glencross, Andrew.
What makes the EU viable? : European integration in the light of the
antebellum US experience / Andrew Glencross.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-349-30951-1 (alk. paper)
1. European Union. 2. European federation. 3. Europe—Economic integration—
Political aspects. 4. United States—Politics and government—1783–1865,
5. Political culture—United States—History—19th century. I. Title.
JN30.G568 2009
341.242'2—dc22 2009013630
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09
For my mentors: Graham Howes and Fritz Kratochwil
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Contents
List of Tables x
Acknowledgements xi
Introduction: Questioning What Makes the EU Viable 1
1 The Problem of Viability in a Compound Polity 7
1.1 Introduction 7
1.2 Viability as defined in relation to the
‘Rules of the Game’ of politics 8
1.3 Scenarios of viability in a compound polity 15
1.4 The theory of the compound polity and
the issue of the units’ sovereign status 20
1.5 Comparing the EU with other political systems 24
1.6 Conclusion 31
2 Developing an Analogical Comparison between
the EU and the Antebellum US Republic 32
2.1 Introduction 32
2.2 The attraction of transatlantic comparison 33
2.3 The caesura of the Civil War: The overlooked
significance of antebellum political conflict 37
2.4 Comparing viability in the EU and
antebellum US: A question of praxis not preconditions 43
2.5 Conclusion: Learning through analogy 51
3 Comparing How the Rules of the Game
are Contested 53
3.1 Introduction 53
3.2 Viability and the conflict over the rules of the
game of politics in the antebellum US 54
vii
viii Contents
3.3 Contesting the rules of the game in the EU 63
3.3.1 Dual federalism v. joint federalism 66
3.3.2 A constitution for popular government v.
a treaty system 67
3.3.3 A project for freedom v. a project for undefined
ever closer union 69
3.3.4 A single fault line v. multiple fault lines 70
3.3.5 A party system and Supreme Court
arbitrator v. politics of treaty reform and
council arbitration 71
3.4 Conclusion 73
4 The Struggle to Maintain a Compound System:
Creating and Contesting the Rules of the
Game in European Integration 74
4.1 Introduction 74
4.2 The construction of the rules of the game of
European politics, from the ECSC to the EEC 75
4.2.1 The Coal and Steel Community 76
4.2.2 The European Economic Community 79
4.3 After the EEC: Unexpected constitutionalization
(ECJ), the first enlargement (UK) and democratic
consolidation (Mediterranean enlargement) 81
4.3.1 The impact of the court on the rules
of the game 82
4.3.2 British accession: Opening up the Pandora’s
box of domestic politics 86
4.3.3 The Mediterranean enlargement round: Defining
the Community’s democratic values 93
4.4 Maastricht and after: Questioning the purpose and
nature of integration 97
4.5 Two steps forward but how many back? European
integration’s dynamic equilibrium 107
4.6 Conclusion 112
Contents ix
5 Contrasting and Explaining the Viability of
Two Compound Systems 113
5.1 Introduction 113
5.2 American dual federalism (with the highest functions
of government) v. European joint federalism
(with the most numerous) 115
5.3 A constitution for popular government v.
a treaty system 118
5.4 A project for freedom (the union as a means
to an end) v. a project for undefined ever closer union
(integration as an end in itself ) 125
5.5 A single fault line v. multiple fault lines 131
5.6 A party system and Supreme Court arbitrator v.
politics of treaty reform and Council arbitration 138
5.7 Conclusion: Recognizing what makes the EU viable 150
6 The Future Evolution of the EU Compound Polity:
The Obstacles to Voluntary Centralization 152
6.1 Introduction 152
6.2 Dynamic equilibrium: A self-reinforcing process? 154
6.3 Compound polities and the problem of representing
both states and individuals 161
6.4 How to manage the voluntary centralization
of representation 169
6.5 The political process needed for justifying
voluntary centralization 173
6.6 Conclusion 180
Conclusion: Implications for EU Studies and
the Debate over the Future of Integration 182
Applying the insights of this study 184
Notes 189
Bibliography 206
Index 224