State-building and the European Union: Markets, War, and Europe's Uneven Political Development

Kelemen, R. Daniel; McNamara, Kathleen R.

doi:10.1177/00104140211047393

Cited by 65 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 111 publications

(166 reference statements)

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“…Viewed as federal, the EU is strange in clearly identifiable ways (Greer 2021;Kelemen and McNamara 2021). Its horizontal fiscal imbalances are extreme, with economic differences and prospects varying greatly between its regions.…”

Section: Implications: the European Union And Its Futurementioning

confidence: 99%

Putting Federalism in Its Place

Greer¹,

Béland²,

Lecours³

et al. 2023

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supported the project that led to this and the earlier volume, Federalism and Social Policy. Theresa Ramirez and Connie Rockman supported that project with the generosity and competence they always show. Comments from Alan Trench, Janet Laible, and Margitta Mätzke on the initial development of this project were very helpful. Finally, the University of Michigan Press, especially Elizabeth Demers, Kevin Rennells, and Haley Winkle, were the combination of supportive, engaged, tough, and patient that authors always appreciate. CHAPTER 1Why Should We Care about Federalism?In Texarkana there is an unusual building. As its name suggests, the town straddles the border between the U.S. states of Texas and Arkansas. The building stands along the border, half on each side. It is a U.S. federal government building, finished in 1933, that combines post offices and courts. The federal courts serving Texas are on the Texas side, and the federal courts serving Arkansas are on the Arkansas side. A post office, equally divided between the two states, serves both. The street splits to go around the building, with different pavement quality and parking rules on the two sides.That one building in a little-known railroad town is a metaphor for federalism. The states constitute the environment, but the federation constitutes the states. It is a legacy of specific political moments and policy decisions that there is a shared post office, serving the American people, in a unifying federal building that reinforces juridical divides between states in its very design. Perhaps it is telling that it is said (by the town's tourism bureau) to be the second most photographed federal building in the United States. It is of no significant architectural interest-except insofar as its location and its twinned courthouses inscribe federal politics in its stones. Letters mailed there since 1933 have been postmarked with a stamp that marks them as having been mailed in both states: "Texarkana-AR-TX" or "Texarkana, USA."The concrete complexity of a federal building in the American Cotton Belt belies much of what is written about federalism. Much research about the impact of federalism, or any other political or social institution, treats it as a binary variable, present or absent, and then look for its effects. Endless effort has been expended and endless ink spilled in scholarly and popular 1. More specifically, this book focuses primarily on federal countries located in Australasia, North America, and Western Europe, which does not mean the lessons it draws are not applicable to federal countries located outside the Global North, such as Argentina,

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Section: Implications: the European Union And Its Futurementioning

confidence: 99%

Putting Federalism in Its Place

Greer¹,

Béland²,

Lecours³

et al. 2023

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show abstract

“…A focus on the CPE takes us beyond what R. Daniel Kelemen and Kathleen McNamara identify as its uneven political development characterized by incomplete crisis-prone institutions. For Kelemen and McNamara, 'the EU's unusually uneven and unstable institutional architecture is a product of the fact that Europe's political development has been pushed forward only gradually, by processes of market integration, without the pressure of war or perceived immediate military threat' (Kelemen and McNamara 2022). Adopting a state-building lens, these scholars argue that 'the most complete political development, marked by political consolidation at the center of a polity and robust institutional development' occurs when the logics of war and market-making together influence state-building (Kelemen and McNamara 2022).…”

Section: Collective Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

Collective Power Europe? (TheGovernment and Opposition/Leonard Schapiro Lecture 2022)

Laffan

2023

Gov. & oppos.

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Since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, the EU has been tested and contested as it struggled to come to terms with a series of crises, sometimes labelled a polycrisis. In response to crises, the EU has emerged as a collective power and the concept ‘Collective Power Europe’ (CPE) offers a promising lens with which to analyse the 21st-century European Union and the nature of the polity that is emerging. The aim of this article is to unpack the concept of CPE and to analyse its core features – collective leadership and framing, institutional coordination and the evolving policy toolkit – in response to three crises: Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

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“…In fact, the report argues that a shortcoming of the 2016 regulation was the agency's dependence on Member State contributions – precisely the shortcoming that the 2019 regulation aims to remedy. Elsewhere, Kelemen and McNamara (2022) claim that ‘not one person directly employed by the EU is authorized to use coercive force to enforce EU policies’ (p. 972). Again, this fails to consider the border guards now directly hired by Frontex as part of the Standing Corps (see, for example, Regulation 2019/1896, Annex V).…”

Section: The Asymmetry Of the Eu's Border Regimementioning

confidence: 99%

Symmetry in the Delegation of Power as a Legitimacy Criterion

Fjørtoft

Sandven²

2022

J of Common Market Studies

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The delegation of power and tasks to unelected bodies, a pervasive trend in modern democracies, raises a democratic puzzle. These institutions are removed from majoritarian democratic procedures, breaking the "chain of command" from citizens to elected officials and administrations. Still, they make claims to political authority and legitimacy. This dissertation asks: Under which conditions is the delegation of power to unelected expert bodies democratically legitimate?The dissertation focuses on European Union agencies. It has been common to justify the power of EU agencies by appealing to what the dissertation calls technical legitimacy. The argument says that political neutrality and technical expertise are independent sources of legitimacy for unelected bodies. Certain institutions are legitimate despite, or even because of, their isolation from majoritarian democratic procedures.Through an introductory chapter and four articles, this dissertation aims to delineate the boundaries of technical legitimacy. It cautions against too much faith in technical legitimacy, for instance through the widespread claim that agencies' value-freedom will ensure their legitimacy. But it also disagrees with the position that technical legitimacy is never appropriate. The challenge is to figure out when technical legitimacy may be the appropriate standard-and what should come in its place where it is not.The dissertation combines empirical and normative analysis. A mixedmethods media analysis finds that the legitimation arguments used about agencies in public debate depend on their scientific "hardness" and public salience. A case study of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, uncovers how appeals to technical legitimacy were central when it iii iv summary received a new mandate in 2016. On the normative side, the dissertation argues that agencies face different legitimacy demands depending on their level of epistemic uncertainty and the consequences of potential errors. It also develops a symmetry criterion for legitimacy. The legitimacy of an agency might depend on the level of power delegated to other agencies in a policy area, so that the system as a whole leaves no gaps. Taken together, the dissertation argues against a one-size-fits-all approach to legitimacy: Every institution must not satisfy everything that democracy demands, but the system as a whole must. I want to thank my supervisors, Erik O. Eriksen and Asimina Michailidou, for all discussions and comments on my drafts and ideas. It's been a privilege to work with Erik Oddvar. His commitment to the combination of normative and empirical analysis has shaped my project in more ways than one, and his advice always gives me something to think about. Asimina's perceptive readings and constructive feedback have been frequent lifesavers. Co-writing an article with Asimina was a particular joy and motivation. arena Centre for European Studies at the University of Oslo has been my academic home since I started as a part-time research assistant more than six y...

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State-building and the European Union: Markets, War, and Europe's Uneven Political Development

Cited by 65 publications

References 111 publications

Putting Federalism in Its Place

Putting Federalism in Its Place

Collective Power Europe? (TheGovernment and Opposition/Leonard Schapiro Lecture 2022)

Symmetry in the Delegation of Power as a Legitimacy Criterion

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