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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Restructuring the European State: European Integration and State Reform

Restructuring the European State: European Integration and State Reform

Dardanelli, Paolo

Hardcover

General Political Science

Currently unavailable to order

ISBN10: 0773551522
ISBN13: 9780773551527
Publisher: Mcgill Queens Univ Pr
Published: Dec 12 2017
Pages: 400
Weight: 1.60
Height: 1.20 Width: 6.40 Depth: 9.00
Language: English

Since 1950, devolution reforms have been widespread across Western Europe, leading to constitutional transformation in Belgium, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, as well as the potential for state breakup, as witnessed by independence referendums in Scotland and Catalonia. Over the same period, European integration has transferred power upwards to what is now the European Union. The simultaneous occurrence of these seemingly contradictory trends raises fundamental questions. Is state restructuring a uniform process? Has it been fuelled by European integration and, if so, how?

Restructuring the European State uses a comparative analysis to present a systematic investigation of the connections between European integration and state restructuring. Paolo Dardanelli argues that there are two distinct dynamics of state restructuring: bottom up, where one or more regions demand self-government; and top down, where the central government decides to devolve power. Through quantitative analyses of thirteen key phases of state restructuring in Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom he shows that European integration has a powerful influence only in bottom up cases. Dardanelli points to a striking paradox of integration, whereby an ethos of Europe growing ever closer to union has become associated with fragmentation, divergence, and increased complexity, rather than a seamless system of multilevel governance.

Innovative and rigorously researched, Restructuring the European State marks a major advance in our understanding of contemporary European politics.

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