Scan barcode
A review by heathward
European Integration: From Nation-States to Member States by Christopher J. Bickerton
5.0
I really enjoyed this book- although Bickerton's argument is essentialist and overly linear in some respects, it provides a very useful framework for the development of the modern EU, one which retains the primacy of the state, and thus can be of interest to general readers.
5 Key Arguments:
1. "European integration corresponds to the shift from one form of state- the nation state- to another, the member state. Central to this process of transformation is the way the state-society relationship has been relativized, becoming only one relationship amongst others constitutive of statehood. In contrast to traditional nation states, national governments of member states understand their power and identity as dependent upon their belonging to a wider group or community. This determines their decision-making procedures, shapes their institutional apparatus, and provides for them a distinct social purpose.” (12)
2. "In the rewriting of the social contract of the post-war Golden Age that took place in the 1970s and 1980s, the primacy of the state-society relationship faded as governments undid the various relationships and rights that made up the national corporatist state. In their place, we have seen a strengthening of the relations between national executives at the pan-European level.” (13)
3. “The transition to member statehood corresponds to a shift in Europe away from traditional Left-Right cleavages towards a new political spectrum organised around the twin poles of populism and technocracy.” (17-18)
4. “If populism and technocracy converge in their common critique of political representation, we can see how they fit with member statehood as a form of state. Indeed, we can say that technocracy and populism are two sides of the member state coin... These two trends combine, in a Europe of member states, into what we can call here the emergence of populist technocracies.” (188)
5. “Attempts by [national] governments to insulate themselves from public expectations have evolved over time into the idea that animates today’s member states: the pursuit of external constraints upon political power as the best defence against the excesses of majoritarian politics.” (195)
5 Key Arguments:
1. "European integration corresponds to the shift from one form of state- the nation state- to another, the member state. Central to this process of transformation is the way the state-society relationship has been relativized, becoming only one relationship amongst others constitutive of statehood. In contrast to traditional nation states, national governments of member states understand their power and identity as dependent upon their belonging to a wider group or community. This determines their decision-making procedures, shapes their institutional apparatus, and provides for them a distinct social purpose.” (12)
2. "In the rewriting of the social contract of the post-war Golden Age that took place in the 1970s and 1980s, the primacy of the state-society relationship faded as governments undid the various relationships and rights that made up the national corporatist state. In their place, we have seen a strengthening of the relations between national executives at the pan-European level.” (13)
3. “The transition to member statehood corresponds to a shift in Europe away from traditional Left-Right cleavages towards a new political spectrum organised around the twin poles of populism and technocracy.” (17-18)
4. “If populism and technocracy converge in their common critique of political representation, we can see how they fit with member statehood as a form of state. Indeed, we can say that technocracy and populism are two sides of the member state coin... These two trends combine, in a Europe of member states, into what we can call here the emergence of populist technocracies.” (188)
5. “Attempts by [national] governments to insulate themselves from public expectations have evolved over time into the idea that animates today’s member states: the pursuit of external constraints upon political power as the best defence against the excesses of majoritarian politics.” (195)