Evolution Towards a European Economic Government? Research Design and Theoretical Expectations

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to set out the theoretical and analytical framework used throughout this volume to study the evolution of economic policy co-ordination. This focus represents also an opportunity to test and revise some key assumptions, causal mechanisms and hypotheses about the broader dynamics of European integration and governance. In recent years, theorising about the evolution of the European Union and its governing processes has matured substantially. Established theories have been refined and revised, old theories revived and new approaches suggested (Wiener and Diez 2003; Rosamond 2000). The increasing number of journal articles and books on this topic testifies to this development as do attempts at thinking outside the boxes of International Relations, European Studies or Comparative Government (Pollack 2001). However, the primary objective of this volume is not to refute, redesign or criticise different schools of theorising, but to draw on and synthesise these contributions to set out an appropriate theoretical frame for the purpose of this study. This study brings together political scientists, economists and sociologists from a number of countries to cover a large empirical field, looking at developments in ten EU member states between 1997 and 2003. In doing so, we hope to provide a useful analytical framework and empirical insights into a policy-making process, which has hitherto being studied only on the basis of a small sample of countries and policy fields and relatively short observation periods.

This chapter builds on and develops further previous versions of the research design of the GOVECOR project (Hartwig et al. 2002; Linsenmann and Wessels 2002; Hartwig and Meyer 2002).