6. Rational Choice and Historical Institutionalism

2018 ◽  
pp. 108-127
Author(s):  
Mark A. Pollack
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Judicial Politics ◽  
Historical Institutionalism ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Suboptimal Outcome ◽  
The Eu

The European Union (EU) is without question the most densely institutionalized international organization in the world, and the body of literature known under the rubric of ‘the new institutionalism’ has been applied with increasing success to the study of the Union as a polity and to European integration as a process. This chapter examines rational choice and historical institutionalism and their contributions to EU studies. Following a brief introduction, it traces the origins of rational choice and historical institutionalism, both of which explore the role of institutions in political life, albeit with different emphases. Next, it turns to the EU, exploring the ways in which scholars have drawn on institutionalist theories to understand and explain the legislative, executive, and judicial politics of the EU, as well as the development of EU institutions and policies over time. An in-depth case study applies institutionalist theory to the task of explaining the origins of the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis as well as the EU’s response. Historical institutionalist theory, the author suggests, generates important insights into the suboptimal design of the original Maastricht EMU provisions, as well as the EU’s incremental response and the suboptimal outcome of the crisis. The author concludes by suggesting that institutionalist theories offer a variety of valuable insights into the design, effects, and development of EU institutions, while at the same time remaining compatible with other theoretical approaches in the EU scholar’s toolkit.

The building of economic governance in the European Union

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Verdun
Keyword(s):  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Monetary Integration ◽  
Economic Governance ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
The Eu

This article seeks to shed light on the development over the past decades of the concept of economic governance. It asks what is understood by economic governance and what role the social dimension has played. The article offers an analysis of the problems and possible issues confronting the EU as it seeks ways to address the sovereign debt crisis by embarking on deeper economic integration. The article concludes that from the early days there have been questions about the exact interaction between economic and monetary integration and thus between ‘economic’ and ‘monetary’ union. Despite Delors’ original inclination, few were willing to establish any linkage between EMU and social matters. The crises have again brought out the need to consider the two in tandem. Moreover, with the increased role in economic governance accorded to EU-level institutions, there is a need to rethink the EU democratic model.

From embedded to uncompromising neoliberalism: Competitiveness policies and European Union interscalar relations in the case of Greece

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicos Souliotis ◽  
Georgia Alexandri
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Governance System ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Supranational Level ◽  
Of Greece ◽  
The Eu

This article traces the transfer of competitiveness and cohesion policies from the European Union (EU) institutions to the national and subnational authorities in Greece, both before and after the sovereign debt crisis. We argue that prior to the crisis, the flexibilities of the EU governance system allowed the Greek central government to use the competitiveness and cohesion agenda, as well as the associated funds, to build a domestic socio-political consensus focused on the idea of ‘convergence’ with Europe. The crisis-induced bailout programme deepened neoliberal policies and reorganised vertical and horizontal power relations: policy-making powers have been upscaled towards the supranational level, while the national authorities have been socially disembedded.

scholarly journals Financial and Banking Regulation and Supervision within the EU

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-37
Author(s):  
Constanze Lehleiter
Keyword(s):  
Financial Stability ◽  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Banking Regulation ◽  
Capital Requirements ◽  
Green Paper ◽  
Shadow Banking ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Banking ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThe European Union (EU) has faced not only the international financial crisis, but also the European banking and the sovereign debt crisis. A lack of efficient regulations and supervision were a serious cause of recent developments. As a reaction, the EU finally implemented a framework covering both micro- and macro-prudential policies. Measures such as the new capital requirements, the deposit guarantee schemes, the green paper on shadow banking and, most importantly, the new approach for a macro-prudential supervision are headed towards crisis prevention. However, the challenge is to define regulations enhancing financial stability, which, at the same time, do not prevent institutions from generating reasonable financial risks and do not reduce growth. In that regard, the presented measures still have deficits which have to be faced. Furthermore, coordination between various authorities and the European Commission remains another challenge.

Looking Beyond the Greek Crisis

2017 ◽  
pp. 25-39
Author(s):  
Maria Kontochristou
Keyword(s):  
European Monetary Union ◽  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Sovereign Debt Crisis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Media ◽  
Of Greece ◽  
The Eu

The Greek sovereign debt crisis has not only raised concerns about the deficiencies of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and the effects of the Eurozone crisis on member states' politics and administration, but also has challenged the establishment of the Eurozone itself. The crisis has revealed a lack of democratic legitimacy whereas has severely questioned ‘Europeanness'. The chapter examines solidarity as one of the fundamental principles of the European Union (EU) and pylons of the European society and identity. In particular, the chapter discusses the concept of solidarity within the EU and examines the role of discourse at the EU level. Especially, it examines what type of discourse the EU political elites and the media have engendered regarding European solidarity in the case of Greece.

The Impact of Sovereign Debt Crisis on the EU Economy

2015 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Serkan Cura
Keyword(s):  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Spillover Effect ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sovereign Debt Crisis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Global Crisis ◽  
Subprime Mortgage ◽  
Short Time ◽  
The Eu

The subprime mortgage crisis, which started in the United States in 2008, turned into a global crisis in a short time. Following the policies to reduce and mitigate the impacts of the global crisis, a sovereign debt crisis began that led to tremendous increases in government deficits and debt stock in the European Union region and made government financial systems unsustainable. This debt crisis, which started in the second half of 2009 in Greece, has resulted in a spillover effect for every EU member country. The ongoing crisis has rendered the future of Economic and Monetary Union uncertain. This chapter aims to determine the root causes of sovereign debt crisis in the EU and the economic and financial effects of and precautions for the crisis. This study also discusses the degradation of the EU's economic and political integration as a result of the sovereign debt crisis.

Austerity and European Social Rights: How Can Courts Protect Europe's Lost Generation?

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 1145-1176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasia Poulou
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Union ◽  
Default Risk ◽  
Financial Stability ◽  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Policy Coordination ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Lost Generation ◽  
The Eu

The European financial crisis has called many of the assumptions of the constitutional structure of the European Union (EU) into question. The market-based model of the European Monetary Union (EMU) led to an improper assessment of the borrowing capacity of the euro-area Member States and a mispricing of their default risk. Another design flaw of the EMU that has been exposed by the crisis was the weakness of the existing framework for economic policy coordination. The factual interdependence of the participating economies in the monetary union was so strong that the denial of some form of assistance to the debt-distressed countries triggered a domino effect in the Eurozone as a whole. The quest for instruments to address the sovereign debt crisis brought a European constitutional crisis to the forefront: the EU did not possess the appropriate mechanisms to help the states in need and to guarantee financial stability in the EMU.

Germany's Role in the EU-27 Leadership Constellation after Brexit

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Schweiger
Keyword(s):  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Leadership Role ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Central Eastern Europe ◽  
Angela Merkel ◽  
Inclusive Policy ◽  
The Eu

With Brexit, the European Union has entered the first phase of unprecedented and potentially wider political disintegration. This is a reflection of the growing division between the EU’s core political agenda, defined under Germany’s increasingly uncompromising hegemonial leadership throughout the past decade, and the political preferences of the periphery in Southern and Central-Eastern Europe. This article critically examines the multiple effects of Germany’s dominant leadership role in the EU since the onset of the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis on the basis of a liberal intergovernmentalist perspective. It also considers future perspectives for German leadership in the EU after Brexit. As Angela Merkel enters her fourth term as German chancellor, she faces growing domestic political pressures and dwindling support for German leadership in the EU. German leadership is therefore more constrained than ever at a time when it is urgently needed to steer the EU away from further disintegration and towards lasting consolidation. The latter will require Berlin to engage profoundly in rebuilding a multilateral EU leadership constellation with France and Poland, which develops an inclusive policy agenda that represents the growing diversity of national interests amongst the remaining EU-27 member states.

scholarly journals The European Refugee Crisis: transitioning the EU from state-centric ‘kingdoms’ to a federalist system of multi-level governance

Federalism-E ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-34
Author(s):  
Stephen Mighton
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
Regulatory Body ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Finance Minister ◽  
The Eu

In an era where European integration has become increasingly questioned and where Euroscepticism battles the objectives envisioned by the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, the European Union (EU) desperately needs to revitalize its project of unification if its hopes to survive. Events of the last decade, such as the sovereign debt crisis, the global financial crisis, and the evolving refugee crisis, have challenged the efficacy of the EU and have seemingly undermined its legitimacy as a regulatory body. Taken individually, these crises pose a potent threat to the success of European integration and to the enlargement of member state unification. Most recently, the ongoing refugee crisis has created a sense of disunion within the EU giving way to a state of calamity as successive European efforts have failed at resolving this issue. Reeling from civil conflict and political turmoil, individuals from various regions, most notably Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, have fled the dangers and uncertainties of their homes in order to seek refuge within neighbouring European countries. This arduous and sudden development has prompted commentators, such as former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, to claim that the solidarity of the EU is being threatened at a level not seen since the migrant crisis of 1945 during the Second World War.[...]

The EU Migration Crisis: A Crisis Analysis Case Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Slominski
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Migration Policy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Migration Crisis ◽  
And Migration ◽  
The Eu

The European Union (EU) migration crisis has been part and parcel of a conglomerate of crises that have affected the EU since the late 2000s, as have the financial and sovereign debt crisis, “Brexit,” the Russia–Ukraine conflict, as well as tensions within transatlantic relations. Scholarship on the EU has devoted much attention in assessing what the migration crisis means for EU integration at large. In particular, EU scholars are interested why the migration crisis has led to political gridlock and a renationalization of border controls rather than a deepening of integration. While they differ in their explanations, these explanations shed light on different aspects of the crisis and are far from mutually exclusive. Scholars who are more interested in the area of EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) largely agree with EU theorists that the field suffers from an incomplete governance design, the dominance of EU member states, and weak supranational capacities. Their analysis also focuses on intra-EU dynamics but offers a more nuanced empirical assessment of relevant EU institutions and decision-making in the course of managing the migration crisis. This growing body of research produces valuable insights and largely confirms existing scholarship, including that on the growing securitization and externalization of EU asylum and migration policy. The EU’s understanding as a norm-based power is particularly challenged by the migratory movements in the wake of the crisis. A small but growing scholarship analyses how the EU is balancing its non-entrée policy with its legal obligation, and what kind of governance arrangements result from that. While this scholarship has enriched our understanding of the EU migration crisis, it has not generated a major refinement of the standard approaches of EU theorists and JHA scholars. To further enrich the literature on the migration crisis, scholars should go beyond studying the dynamics of EU decision-making and the role of EU institutions. Such an approach should engage more systematically with international actors and institutions that have the capacity to influence EU migration policy. At the same time, global phenomena such as war, poverty, or climate change should also be taken into account in assessing the EU’s room for maneuver in handling migratory pressures. Future research on the migration crisis as well as on migration challenges should thus not only connect with other subfields of political science, such as policy analysis or international relations, but also open up to other disciplines such as law, demography, or environmental studies.

Slovakia and the European Union

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Loedel
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Sovereign Debt Crisis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Eu

Slovakia’s most recent crisis of identity involving the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova, and the subsequent anti-government protests (the largest since 1989), indicate that the push of European-wide democratic values and the pull of the old ways of Slovakian politics continue to define the nation’s political and economic landscape. Despite a decade and a half of European Union (EU) membership, Slovakia remains caught between the two competing pressures: one of corruption and the other of the rule of law. On the one hand, the rule of law heavily shaped by the intense Europeanization of Slovakia’s accession to the EU and its strong desire to be seen as a committed, highly integrated European partner, indeed part of the core of EU nations. On the other hand, the state remains relatively weak and captured by a dominant one-party political regime, resistant to fundamental change and punctuated by corruption. Indeed, for many analysts, Slovakia has fallen in line with other Central and Eastern European (CEE) states, high on absorbing EU funds and economic benefits, but less than committed to European political values and espousing nationalist and populist agendas. With pressure increasing from the European Union for accountability, the rule of law, and human rights, in which direction will Slovakia turn? This is not just a question for Slovakia; it is a fundamental question for Europe and the European Union. The direction in which nation-states such as Slovakia develop could determine the fate of the Union. In order to determine which direction Slovakia is headed, analysis of particular case studies of Europeanization suggest intentional, deep, and lasting impacts on Slovakia. Specifically, by examining justice and home affairs policy issues and inclusion into the European monetary system and eventual participation in the eurozone, Slovakia’s EU approach can be explained by its relative power and influence within the European Union. The first phase of Slovakian Europeanization can be characterized by its relative weakness, defined by rapid acceptance of EU directives, near total commitment to implementing those directives, and little Slovakian leverage over the process. By the time Slovakia joined the eurozone in January 2009, the EU’s ability to shape and impact Slovakia’s political and economic direction was demonstrable. However, following the severe economic downturn beginning in 2008 and the onset of the sovereign debt crisis of 2010, a second phase began to emerge. By the time of the migrant crisis in Europe in 2015, Slovakia surfaced as a key player in the EU’s ongoing struggles with the sovereign debt crisis and defending the external borders of Europe. Shifting relative Slovakian influence within the EU, broken down into two historical time frames, thus provides an overlapping explanation of the dual nature of Slovakia’s relationship with and to the European Union. These dual tracks help us further understand how truly Europeanized Slovakia is, despite its more recent resistance to further integrationist efforts. Slovakia, like the EU, is walking a very delicate tightrope, striking its own distinct and influential path among its CEE and Visegrad partners.

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