Papers by Thomas Christiansen
Traditionally, much of the focus of the study of politics has been on formal arrangements and for... more Traditionally, much of the focus of the study of politics has been on formal arrangements and formal institutions. In recent years, however, this dominant focus has given way to an increasing concern with informal aspects of politics. This can be said for both the study of comparative politics and international relations more generally and for research on governance within the European Union in particular. Against this background, the aim of this research note is, first, to review the findings of research on informal governance and, second, to explore whether analytical concepts can be applied to the EU, with the aim of bringing greater conceptual clarity to the field and identifying future research agendas in this area. In a final section, the article also addresses the normative dimension of informal governance in the EU, discussing both the benefits and the risks of such arrangements from the perspective of transparency, efficiency and democratic accountability.
Traditionally, much of the focus of the study of politics has focused on formal arrangements and ... more Traditionally, much of the focus of the study of politics has focused on formal arrangements and formal institutions, and on the offi cial legislative or implementing acts and decisions that arise from their work. This is even more true for the study of law with its explicit concern with formally binding rules and offi cial sanctions. However, in recent years, the dominant focus on formal institutions, rules and procedures has given way to an increasing concern with informal aspects of politics. This is due in part to a conceptual shift in political science, with a greater attention of scholars devoted to the wider phenomenon of 'governance' rather than being occupied, more narrowly, with government. The 'governance turn' is concerned with precisely those aspects of policy-making that cut across the divide between public and private, that involve non-state actors as well as public offi ce-holders and that lead to non-binding arrangements, voluntary agreements and other kinds of 'soft law', or that revolve around the coordination of actions from a range of diff erent actors (Hooghe and The focus on governance by defi nition pushes scholars to pay greater attention to the non-formal aspects of politics, and this has coincided with a second development, namely the rising number of empirical studies on the informal dimension of politics, and in an expanding number of fi elds this has provided interesting research, raising both new questions about the nature of decision-making and off ering valuable insights into the 'underbelly' of public policy-making. The variety of work done along these lines is extremely broad, ranging from studies into patterns of clientelism in Western political systems to informal practices in other parts of the world. It involves scholarship from a number of diff erent disciplines including political science, international relations, law, sociology, cultural studies and even anthropology. And it ranges in focus across all territorial levels of governance, from developments at the global level, through regional institutions to the nation-state, regional and local levels (for example
This file is to be used only for a purpose specified by Palgrave Macmillan, such as checking proo... more This file is to be used only for a purpose specified by Palgrave Macmillan, such as checking proofs, preparing an index, reviewing, endorsing or planning coursework/other institutional needs. You may store and print the file and share it with others helping you with the specified purpose, but under no circumstances may the file be distributed or otherwise made accessible to any other third parties without the express prior permission of Palgrave Macmillan. Please contact [email protected] if you have any queries regarding use of the file.
The article introduces constructivist approaches to research on European integration. While stres... more The article introduces constructivist approaches to research on European integration. While stressing middle-range theory, it recognizes that meta-theoretical choices also matter for theorizing and analysing European integration. Tracing developments in the philosophy of science and in international relations theory, social constructivism is introduced as a way of establishing the 'middle ground' in juxtaposition to rationalism and reflectivism -not as a grand theory for the study of European integration. Crucial aspects of the integration process -polity formation through rules and norms, the transformation of identities, the role of ideas and the uses of language -are thereby opened up to systematic inquiry.
Intergovernmental Conferences are generally seen as key events in the design of the European Unio... more Intergovernmental Conferences are generally seen as key events in the design of the European Union. This paper challenges this traditional view. Arguing that treaty reform should be regarded as a continuous process rather than a series of events, the paper develops a procedural understanding of constitutional change based on structuration theory. In such a perspective, analytical attention is redirected from the political limelight of largely ceremonial events to the more obscure 'valleys' – the periods between the IGC summits in which the more momentous developments of European integration occur. The study of past instances of constitutional change as well as an analysis of the IGC leading to the Amsterdam Treaty demonstrate the significance of a wider set of actors and of the structural environment: the trajectory of past decisions, the multilateral generation of reform agendas, the institutionalised patterns of negotiation and decision-making and the constitutionalisation of the EU order. This severely limits the ability of national governments to negotiate on the basis of 'national interests' and thus dissolves one of the cornerstones of intergovernmentalism – the over-arching significance of IGCs. Kurzfassung Regierungskonferenzen werden allgemein als die wichtigsten Ereignisse in der Entwicklung der Europäischen Union angesehen. Dieser Beitrag wendet sich gegen diese traditionelle Auffassung. Vertragsänderungen sollten nicht als eine Reihe von Ereignissen, sondern als ein kontinuierlicher Prozess verstanden werden. Dieses Papier entwickelt dementsprechend eine strukturationstheoretische Perspektive europäischer Verfassungsreformen, die den analytischen Schwerpunkt vom politischen Rampenlicht der Regierungskonferenzen auf die eher unzugänglichen Täler zwischen diesen Gipfeltreffen verlegt. Tatsächlich sind es diese Täler, in denen die historisch wichtigen Entwicklungen der europäischen Einigung ihren Ursprung haben. Sowohl die Entwicklunggeschichte des europäischen Verfassungsprozesses wie auch die Analyse der jüngsten Regierungskonferenz, die zum Vertrag von Amsterdam führte, belegen die Wichtigkeit einer über Regierungsvertreter hinausreichenden Zahl von Akteuren und des strukturellen Umfeldes: die Pfadabhängigkeit früheren Entscheidungen, die multilaterate Entstehung der Reformpläne, die Institutionalisierung von Verhandlungsführung und Entscheidungsfindung sowie die Verfassung einer europäischen Ordnung. All dies schränkt den Spielraum der Regierungen stark ein, auf der Basis 'nationaler Interessen' zu verhandeln, und somit verschwindet einer der Eckpfeiler des Intergouvernmentalismus – die überragende Bedeutung von Regierungskonferenzen.
Over the past five years, the European Commission has undergone what are probably the most signif... more Over the past five years, the European Commission has undergone what are probably the most significant reforms since its inception. The article provides a brief review and assessment of these administrative reforms, before looking at the political changes and challenges arising from the processes of constitutionalisation and enlargement. The entry of ten new Member States in particular has created additional pressures and demands, but also provides new opportunities to review and revise the workings of the Commission to enable it to adapt to an enlarged Union. This article sets out to examine the position of the Commission at this important juncture. It looks at the ongoing process of internal reforms in the European Commission and assesses their impact on the institution, considers the process of treaty reform and its implications for the Commission, and then reviews the wider impact of enlargement on the Commission and on the European Union as a whole. By way of conclusion, we assess the current and future challenges facing the incoming Commission under its new President Barroso.
This article argues that a comprehensive approach to treaty reform requires both a more inclusive... more This article argues that a comprehensive approach to treaty reform requires both a more inclusive and longer-term perspective. We re-conceptualize agency and structure in the process of treaty reform; examine theoretically as well as empirically the respective roles of interests, ideas and institutions in treaty reform; and seek to reconcile agency and structure, as well as ideas, interests and institutions, in a temporal perspective on treaty reform.
This article introduces the collection of articles of the special issue and provides a discussion... more This article introduces the collection of articles of the special issue and provides a discussion of the common themes linking these contributions. The article stresses the continuing significance of the Maastricht Treaty and illustrates the various ways in which the key reforms of the early 1990s still matter today. This includes not only the bearing that the decisions at the time of the Maastricht Treaty have had on the current crisis of the Eurozone, but also the developments in the areas of foreign policy and justice and home affairs. Indeed, the very move towards 'pillarisation' as well as key institutional changes such as the creation of the co-decision procedure and the elevation of the European Council all continue to play an important role today. The article concludes with some reflections about the legacy of the Maastricht Treaty, highlighting both the achievements of the treaty but also the shortcomings in terms of enhancing democratic legitimacy and engagement with civil society -indicating the key challenges that the Union still faces today.
The appointment of the President of the European Commission in 2014 occurred in the context of a ... more The appointment of the President of the European Commission in 2014 occurred in the context of a novel environment: in constitutional terms, the Lisbon Treaty had introduced a small but significant change, namely the requirement for the candidate proposed by the European Council to be elected by the European Parliament. Politically, the 2014 European elections took place against the background of the eurozone crisis which had polarised opinions about the direction of European integration across the member states. This article develops a framework to assess the impact of this changed environment along two crucial dimensions of EU politics -interinstitutional relations and party politics. Based on this analysis, the article argues that while there has been gradual change in certain respects, the impact of the Spitzenkandidaten system did not lead to a transformation of the EU's political system. Indeed, rather than creating new opportunities for party political competition, the cooperation between centreright and centre-left in the election of the Commission President and subsequent decision-making further strengthened the long-standing 'grand coalition' in the European Parliament.
Die Europawahlen im Jahr 2014 wurden von der Presseabteilung des Europäischen Parlaments als ein ... more Die Europawahlen im Jahr 2014 wurden von der Presseabteilung des Europäischen Parlaments als ein Ereignis beworben, beim dem es diesmal um mehr ging. 1 Eine Reihe offensichtlicher Gründe gab Anlass zu der Annahme, dass die Dinge diesmal wirklich anders sein würden, wobei die Krise der Eurozone ganz oben auf der Liste stand. Die Krise spaltete sowohl die Eliten als auch die Bürger in der Frage, welches der beste Weg ist, mit den Gefahren von Staatsbankrotten in einigen Mitgliedstaaten, der Notwendigkeit von ‚bail-outs' und den damit verbundenen Strukturreformen in den Schuldnerländern umzugehen. Entlang dieser Fragen zeigten sich deutliche Risse innerhalb des europäischen Gemeinwesens. Der Vorwurf, dass ein Großteil des Krisenmanagements in einer technokratischen und/oder intergouvernementalen Art und Weise, ohne ausreichende demokratische Legitimation, gehandhabt wurde, bedeutete, dass die europäischen Wähler 2014 erstmals über ein wirklich gesamteuropäisches Thema abstimmen konnten, welches die Mehrheit von ihnen auf die eine oder andere Weise direkt betraf.
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Papers by Thomas Christiansen