Showing Ideas as Causes: The Origins of the European Union

Parsons, Craig

doi:10.1162/002081802753485133

Cited by 169 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 44 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…They are also aligned with the premises of social identity theory, according to which groups usually form a core of values shared by their members (Della Sala, 2010;Etzioni, 2007;Føllesdal, 2006;Parsons, 2002;Tajfel, 1981). To gain positive self-esteem (Tajfel, 1981) or alternatively to satisfy the need for optimal distinctiveness (Brewer, 1991), individuals develop stereotypes based on group affiliations, and these perceptions of group membership can, in turn, lead to the acceptance of group norms (Hogg, 2006).…”

Section: Democratic Values As a Proxy For European Identitymentioning

confidence: 80%

A community of values: Democratic identity formation in the European Union

Oshri

Sheafer

Shenhav

2015

European Union Politics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Has the European Union (EU) succeeded in socializing citizens to support the democratic values it claims to promote? On the face of it, the prevailing skepticism precludes any expectation of a successful socialization of EU citizens to the EU values. Yet, according to the socialization hypothesis, citizens' support for these values is expected to increase as countries accumulate more years of the EU membership. Using survey data to isolate distinct dimensions of democratic values, we examine differences among countries in this regard, as well as changes within countries over time. Results confirm the socialization hypothesis, showing that support for democratic values is generally higher in countries with more years of the EU membership, and that this support trends upwards over time.

show abstract

Section: Democratic Values As a Proxy For European Identitymentioning

confidence: 80%

A community of values: Democratic identity formation in the European Union

Oshri

Sheafer

Shenhav

2015

European Union Politics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In other words, how can we ascertain that the interaction dynamics outlined above are not spurious? Table 1 suggests that demand conditions and the institutional opportunity structure only take us so far in understanding the setting of energy and defense policies on the EU's agenda, thus it is plausible that ideas have also been a driver of institutionalization, albeit in combination with other variables (Parsons 2002). An additional step is to show that political entrepreneurs put in place a broad coalition around a set of ambiguous ideas.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Constructive Ambiguity: Comparing the EU’s Energy and Defence Policies

Jegen¹,

Mérand²

2013

West European Politics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article explores the paradox of constructive ambiguity. Based on a focused, longitudinal comparison of the European Union's energy and defense policies, we analyze the role played by strategies of ambiguity in European integration. Ambiguity is found to be an attractive strategy for political entrepreneurs when member state preferences are heterogeneous and the EU's legal basis is weak. It is likely to be effective, however, only if it is embedded in an institutional opportunity structure -, that is, a formal-legal context -that entrepreneurs can fold into their strategic repertoire of ideas. While ambiguity can be strategic in circumstances where clarity would create strong opposition, it is not sufficient to entrench a European policy if it does not rest on an institutional basis. This suggests that European political entrepreneurs should be wary of relying on coalition building by ambiguity only. Keywords: European Union, energy policy, defense policy, ideas, Stanley HoffmannThis is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Jegen, Maya, and Frédéric Mérand. 2013 DOI: 10.1080DOI: 10. /01402382.2013. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for This article assesses the role of "constructive ambiguity" in promoting European integration. 1 Henry Kissinger famously defined constructive ambiguity as "the deliberate use of ambiguous language in a sensitive issue in order to advance some political purpose" (Berridge and James 2003). In an early formulation of the argument we explore in this article, Stanley Hoffmann (1995[1966]: 131) wrote: "There has always been most progress when the Europeans were able to preserve a penumbra of ambiguity around their enterprise, so as to keep each one hoping that the final shape would be closest to his own ideal, and to permit broad coalitions to support the next moves." Constructive ambiguity has become a received wisdom among Europeanists, a bit like Henry Kissinger's phone number, Jacques Delors's unidentified political object, Donald Puchala's elephant, or the bicycle that cannot stop. Yet it has not been subject to systematic empirical scrutiny. . « Constructive Ambiguity: Comparing the EU's Energy and Defence Policies ». West European Politics 37(1): 182-203, which has been published in final form 2While the role of ambiguity remains understudied in EU politics, it is enjoying some currency in related fields such as anthropology, public policy, and international relations. For Murray Edelman (2001: 80), " [a]mbiguity (…) is especially conspicuous in political language because by definition politics concerns conflicts of interests." Indeed, ambiguity is often seen as a means to conceal or to postpone conflict. Using the example of the "social responsibility" label in the mutual fund industry, Linda Markowitz and her colleagues (2012) argue that strategic actors frame financial products ambiguously to reduce negative reactions in the market. Looking at "agencification" in public administ...

show abstract

“…The influence of epistemic communities depends on whether consensus exists amongst the experts and whether what is being espoused registers with the goal of the policy-maker (Haas, 1992a: 14;Berman, 1998;Parsons, 2002). As a result, key to the influence of epistemic communities on policy outcomes and state behaviour is whether or not their ideas have traction amongst politicians and whether consensus exists amongst members of the epistemic community.…”

Section: A Role For Epistemic Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk Regulation, Science, and Interests in Transatlantic Trade Conflicts

Hornsby¹

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The global political economy is in flux as a series of cumulative crises impacts its organization and governance. The IPE series has tracked its development in both analysis and structure over the last three decades. It has always had a concentration on the global South. Now the South increasingly challenges the North as the centre of development, also reflected in a growing number of submissions and publications on indebted Eurozone economies in Southern Europe.An indispensable resource for scholars and researchers, the series examines a variety of capitalisms and connections by focusing on emerging economies, companies and sectors, debates and policies. It informs diverse policy communities as the established trans-Atlantic North declines and 'the rest', especially the BRICS, rise.

show abstract

Showing Ideas as Causes: The Origins of the European Union

Cited by 169 publications

References 44 publications

A community of values: Democratic identity formation in the European Union

A community of values: Democratic identity formation in the European Union

Constructive Ambiguity: Comparing the EU’s Energy and Defence Policies

Risk Regulation, Science, and Interests in Transatlantic Trade Conflicts

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About