Thursday, December 25, 2008

Demystifying the European Union or Essential Weber

Demystifying the European Union: The Enduring Logic of Regional Integration

Author: Roy H Ginsberg

The European Union-the world's greatest experiment in interstate reconciliation through regional integration-is now fifty years old. However, it remains a mystery to many people in and outside Europe. This clear and comprehensive book is dedicated to "demystifying" the EU for both introductory and seasoned students of European integration. Roy H. Ginsberg begins with the foundation blocks of history, law, economics, and politics to provide the context for understanding integration. He then deconstructs the EU into its individual elements to examine them in relation to one another and to the whole before reconstructing the EU as a single polity: In doing so, he evaluates the EU's scope for agency and its effects on Europeans and non-Europeans alike.

About the Author:
Roy H. Ginsberg is professor of government at Skidmore College



Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations     xiii
Acknowledgments     xv
Preface     xvii
Acronyms     xix
Note to Instructors     xxiii
Introduction     1
The Importance of the European Union to the World     1
For Europeans     2
For Americans     5
For Europeans and Americans Together     6
The Structure of the Book     8
Key Concepts     9
Study Questions     9
Selected Readings     9
Notes     10
Foundations     11
Unity and Disunity     13
Preview     13
Presence and Absence of Regional Unity and Integration     13
Incarnations and Ghosts     15
Unity and Disunity in Christian Europe     17
The Renaissance, the Hanseatic League, and the Elements of Unity     22
Revolution, War, and Peace     24
Extreme Nationalism and Disintegration     29
Elusive Unity and War Again     32
Two Unities and a Cold War     37
The Reflex to Cooperate: Early Modern European Integration, 1947-1957     39
Collective Self-Defense and the United States     40
Regional Economic Integration, the Schuman Plan, and the United States     41
Extension of Collective Self-Defense     49
The Treaties of Rome     52
Review     56
Key Concepts     57
Study Questions     57
Selected Readings     58
Notes     58
Theory and Practice of Modern European Integration     61
Preview     61
Political Thinkers, Writers, and Statesmen: Fourteenth-Twentieth Centuries     62
Postwar Political Theories of European Integration     67
Federal and Functional Logics     67
Intergovernmentalism and Its Variants     70
Peaks and Troughs of Modern European Integration     72
Growth, Turmoil, and Compromise: 1958-1969     72
Expansion and Sclerosis: 1970-1985     74
Revitalization, Enlargement, New Compacts, and the Return of Uncertainty: 1986-Present     79
Political Theory of European Integration Revisited     86
Conventional Political Theories of Modern European Integration     87
Revisionist Theories of Modern European Integration     89
Review     90
Key Concepts     91
Study Questions     91
Selected Readings      92
Notes     92
The Economic and Legal Foundations of the European Community     95
Preview     95
The Economics of the European Community     97
Customs Union Theory     99
Optimum Currency Area Theory     103
International Political Economy     106
Recap     107
The Law of the European Community     108
Structure and Function     110
Avenues of Legal Redress     112
Principles and Landmarks     117
Cases by Area of EC Competence     121
Looking Back, Looking Ahead     125
Review     129
Key Concepts     130
Study Questions     130
Selected Readings     131
Notes     131
The European Union in Practice     137
The Contexts and Actors of EU Governmental Decisionmaking     145
Preview     145
The Contexts of EU Governmental Decisionmaking     145
Inside World     146
European World     148
Outside World     150
The Inputs into EU Governmental Decisionmaking     151
EU Member Governments, Institutions, and NGOs      152
Political Parties and Electorates     155
Actors outside the European Union     156
Review     157
Key Concepts     157
Study Questions     158
Selected Readings     158
Notes     158
Inside EU Governmental Decisionmaking     160
Preview     160
Conscience of the European Union: The Commission     164
Appointment and Delegation     165
Structure     168
Function and Agency     169
Role in EU Governmental Decisionmaking     171
Taking Stock     174
Fulcrum of Political Power in the European Union: The Council     175
Structure and Function     177
Role in EU Governmental Decisionmaking     179
The Sovereigns of the European Union: The European Council     182
Taking Stock     183
Voice of the European Union: The European Parliament     184
Structure and Function     189
Powers and Role in EU Governmental Decisionmaking     192
Taking Stock     199
The Budgetary Process of the European Community: A Thumbnail Sketch     200
The Auditor of the European Union: The European Court of Auditors      201
The Banks of the European Union     203
The Agencies of the European Union     204
The European Union and the United States: Insights from Comparative Government     205
Constitutionalism and Federalism     207
Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances     208
The EU and U.S. Executives     210
The EU and U.S. Legislatures     212
Review     214
Theoretical Observations     214
Empirical Observations     216
Key Concepts     217
Study Questions     217
Selected Readings     218
Notes     218
The Outputs of EU Governmental Decisionmaking     223
Preview     223
Types of EU Governmental Decisionmaking Instruments     224
Internal Market     226
Origins, Objectives, and Timeline     226
Formulation and Execution     228
Key Elements     229
Common Commercial Policy     242
Origins, Objectives, and Timeline     242
Formulation and Execution     243
Key Elements     244
Monetary Policy     247
Origins, Objectives, and Timeline      247
Formulation and Execution     250
Key Elements     251
Agriculture     254
Origins, Objectives, and Timeline     254
Formulation and Execution     254
Key Elements     255
Regional Development     257
Origins, Objectives, and Timeline     257
Formulation and Execution     260
Key Elements     261
Environment, Fisheries, and Food Safety     261
Origins, Objectives, and Timeline     261
Formulation and Execution     263
Key Elements     264
Justice and Home Affairs     266
Origins, Objectives, and Timeline     266
Formulation and Execution     269
Key Elements     270
Review     273
Theoretical Observations     273
Empirical Observations     275
Key Concepts     277
Study Questions     278
Selected Readings     278
Notes     278
EU Foreign and Security Policy     283
Preview     283
Origins, Objectives, and Timeline     286
Phase One, 1958-1970     289
Phase Two, 1970-1993      290
Phase Three, 1993-1999     291
Phase Four, 1999-Present     292
Formulation and Execution     293
Institutions and Decisionmaking     293
Instruments and Military Capabilities     296
Key Elements-Multilateral Functional Issues     298
Key Elements-Multilateral Security Issues     300
EU Security Operations     300
Nonproliferation, Disarmament, and Arms Control     302
Combatting Crime and Terrorism     303
Key Elements-Countries and Regions     304
Central and Eastern Europe and Enlargement     304
European Neighborhood     306
EU-EFTA Relations     306
Western Balkans     307
Ukraine and Russia     309
Mediterranean Littoral and Middle East     311
Sub-Saharan Africa     316
Asia     318
Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada     319
The United States     320
Review     325
Theoretical Observations     325
Empirical Observations     326
Key Concepts     326
Study Questions     327
Selected Readings     327
Notes      327
Evaluating European Integration     329
The Internal Dimension of European Integration     331
Preview     331
Growth of Membership     331
Intra-EU Trade and the Euro as an Official World Reserve Currency     332
EP Elections and Ratification Procedures for EC/EU Treaties     333
Public Opinion     336
Historical Data and Overall Perceptions of the European Union     337
Importance of the European Union and Support for Political Unification     337
Benefits of Membership     338
Image of and National Power in the European Union     341
Institutions and Democracy     343
Supranational Institutions     344
Intergovernmental Institutions     344
Democracy in the European Union     345
Policies of the European Union     346
Internal Market Policy and Economic Issues     346
Monetary Policy     347
Agricultural and Environmental Policies     347
Justice and Home Affairs     350
Review     351
Key Concepts     353
Study Questions     353
Notes     353
The External Dimension of European Integration      357
Preview     357
Member Governments as a Measure of EU Foreign Policy Effect     358
Public Opinion as a Measure of EU Foreign Policy Effect     359
External Political Impact as a Measure of EU Foreign Policy Effect     364
Inaction as a Measure of EU Foreign Policy Effect     366
Effects of the European Union on Multilateral Functional Issues and Organizations     367
Effects of the European Union on Multilateral Security     369
Military Crisis Management     370
Police Action     373
Rule of Law, Border Patrol, Monitoring, and Other ESDP Missions     375
Effects of the European Union on Countries and Regions     377
Europe     377
Mediterranean Basin, Africa, and Middle East     380
Asia and the Western Hemisphere     383
Review     384
Key Concepts     385
Study Questions     385
Selected Readings     386
Notes     386
Conclusions     387
The European Union's First Half-Century     387
The European Union at the Intersection of Theory and Practice     388
Demystifying the European Union     389
Constructing and Deconstructing the European Union      389
The Importance of the European Union     390
Glossary     393
Index     397
About the Author     423

New interesting book:

Essential Weber: A Reader

Author: Max Weber

Weber is increasingly being recognized as the theorist of modernity. Unlike Marx and Freud, he has not suffered from the mistakes of his followers, and as capitalism triumphs his writings about disenchantment, routinization, the foundering of morality and justice and the disintegration of personality seem to have the ring of prophecy about them. This new reader, selected by one of the world's leading Weber scholars introduces the work of this key thinker to a new generation of readers. The reader will highlight key themes, and many of the selections have been specially translated for this collection both to improve accuracy and to make Weber speak anew in the idiom of the twenty first century.



No comments: