Synopses & Reviews
This volume explores the theoretical value of applying rational choice theory to questions of regional integration. As with other questions of conflict and cooperation in the field of international politics, studies of European integration are divided largely between the realist and liberalist perspectives. Yet neither of these schools of thought aptly explains the dynamics characterizing this process, that is, the major advances in regional integration and the long periods of paralysis. The contributions in this volume work their way from the most general questions and macro-processes down to particular policy problems of the European Union and the micro-foundations of interstate cooperation. The work will be of interest to scholars and policymakers in international relations, international economics, and European studies.
Review
Towards a New Europe unites outstanding rationalist contributions to the analysis of European regional integration. They are bound to give new impetus to the study of the politics of European integration. The focus on an explanation of the "stops and starts in regional integration" is highly topical at a time when the "europhoria" of the late 1980s and early 1990s is giving way to renewed skepticism, and when the European Union faces the double challenge of deepening and widening.Professor Volker Rittberger University of Tubingen
Review
This book make significant contributions to the field of regional integration by effectively challenging commonly accepted beliefs. Towards a New Europe distinguishes itself from other works on European integration, primarily by its use of formal theory, which has not been used extensively in the study of intergration.Perspectives on Political Science
Synopsis
Challenging the prevailing approaches in the field, this volume offers a comprehensive rational choice explanation of regional integration in Europe.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [199]-218) and index.
Table of Contents
Preface
Explaining the Stops and Starts in Regional Integration by Gerald Schneider and Patricia Weitsman
Towards a Political Economy of Scale: European Integration and Disintegration by Michael D. Ward and Corey L. Lofdahl
Expansion or Unity? Placing the European Union in a Historical Perspective by Lars-Erik Cederman
Switzerland--Still a Paradigmatic Case? by Simon Hug and Pascal Sciarini
Power of the European Parliament as a Conditional Agenda Setter by George Tsebelis
Wider and Deeper: The Links between Expansion and Integration in the European Union by Robert Pahre
Regional Integration and the Enlargement Issue: A Macroanalysis by Walter Mattli
Choosing Central Bankers in Europe by Philippe Martin
Full Membership or Full Club? Expansion of NATO and the Future Security Organization of Europe by Thomas Bernauer
Towards a United States of Europe: Future Challenges and Potential Solutions by Gerald Schneider, Patricia Weitsman, and Thomas Bernauer
References
Index