Restructuring Europe. Centre formation, system building and political structuring between the nation-state and the European Union

Abstract:

This work revolves around three questions. First, is the European Union an attempt at state formation? Second, is the EU an attempt at centre formation without nation building? Third, is the EU a process of centre formation without democratisation?

The book is organised over seven chapters. The first is largely analytical and formulates various theoretical propositions relating to boundary demarcation in a large-scale territorial polity. Building on the analytical framework, chapter two explores the history of state formation in Europe from the sixteenth to the twentieth century in order to interpret the specifically historical configuration of the boundaries of the European nation-state and to explain different variations. These two elements of analytical framework and historical reconstruction are tested in the remaining chapters to see how far they contribute to the interpretation of the fifty-year long development of the integration process. The EU as the formation of a new centre and the peculiarities of its institutional design are the focus of chapter three. The impact of this new centre upon traditional configuration of boundaries of the nation-states is examined in chapter four. Chapters five and six analyse the implications of the process of boundary redrawing for the different types of actors and resources active in the territorial, corporate and political-electoral channels of representation. The final chapter reviews the main positions expounded in the work and considers the implications of the peculiar model for centre formation, system building, and political structuring prevalent at the EU level to date.

The work will interest scholars and students, policy researchers and policy makers engaged in European studies, integration issues and European governance.

Stefano Bartolini is Professor of Political Science at the University of Bologna.