1 / 16

Constructivism and EU Studies

Frank Schimmelfennig European Politics ETH Zürich Comenius University, Bratislava April 2008. Constructivism and EU Studies. What is constructivism?. Theory , not metatheory The primacy of ideational intersubjective structures

gali
Download Presentation

Constructivism and EU Studies

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Frank Schimmelfennig European Politics ETH Zürich Comenius University, Bratislava April 2008 Constructivism and EU Studies

  2. What is constructivism? • Theory, not metatheory • The primacy of ideationalintersubjectivestructures • Collective ratherthan individual ideas, cultureratherthanpsychology • Causalor instrumental ideas (knowledge) and principledideas (values, norms), positive or negative identities • Communities: groupssharing a commonculture (set of ideas) and identity • The logic of appropriateness • Habitualor normative action • In case of contestedorinconsistentideas: argumentative action • The politics of identity and community: Community-building and communityconflict

  3. Constructivism and integration theory • Recent addition to integration theory • With roots in neofunctionalism (loyalty transfer, actor socialization) and transactionalism (community-building) • Part of the supranationalist strand of theorizing • Allows for transformative impact of integration • But not inevitable: ideas and identities are sticky • Integration as community-building • Creating a common identity and culture • Core process of integration: socialization

  4. Mechanisms and conditions of socialization

  5. Basic proposition • Integration is likely to progress • if actors’ identification with the EU increases, • when integrative efforts enjoy a high degree of legitimacy and resonance in the member states • Variation in the scope of integration • reflects variation in the relative intensity of identification with the EU • institutional legitimacy • and societal resonance

  6. Empirical evidence • Internal socialization • Mass level • Elite level • Externalsocialization • Export of communityvalues and normsthroughimitationorsociallearning?

  7. Identity change at mass level From: Kelemen 2007, arrows added

  8. Identity change at elite level Pollack 1998 (review of socializationstudies of the 1970s): cognitivechange but no positive affectivechangetowardthe EC Hooghe 2005: high support for EU in Commission but not as a result of preference shifts or internalization but national socialization Beyers 2005: extensive exposure of Council officials to EU does not necessarily lead to supranational role playing; domestic factors positively affect adoption of supranational role conceptions Egeberg 1999, 2002; Trondal 2002:national bureaucrats involved in Commission and Council committees develop new role conceptions but primary allegiance remains with state Scully 2005: MEPs’ views on integration are little different from those of national parliaments; length of service without effect Jachtenfuchs 2002: EU-related constitutional ideas of major member state parties stable across decades.

  9. External socialization Kelley 2004: Socialization large ineffective in contrasttoincentives Vachudova 2005: passive leverageineffective Schimmelfennig 2005; Schimmelfennig/Sedelmeier 2005; Schimmelfennig/Engert/Knobel 2006 • Adoption of EU politicalnormsendogenous in earlydemocratizing countries (not an EU effect) • Otherwise a result of crediblemembershipincentives and lowdomesticpoliticalcosts • Ineffectiveness of regional organizationsthatworkwithoutmajor material incentives (OSCE, Council of Europe) • EU socializationdoes not producenewpreferencesoridentities; complianceresultsfromreplacing anti-reform and anti-EU eliteswith pro-reform and pro-EU elites • Positive identificationfacilitatescompliancewhenpoliticalcostsarehigh and membershipisclose (but identification was given) • Change of identificationoccurs in theoppositionratherthan in government

  10. Intermediate summary • No large-scaleidentitytransformation • Prior identities and beliefsdecisiveforattitudestoward EU • Adoption of EU norms and rules not via habitualor normative action  EU socializationissecondary and weakatbest • Weakimitation and sociallearningeffects • Not evenunder favorable conditionsasspecifiedbythetheory  Strong constructivisttheory not corroborated

  11. Exclusive environment-agency links

  12. Overcoming exclusive environment-agency links

  13. Soft constructivism in EU studies • Ideas (intersubjectivestructures) matter (but not in thewayenvisagedby strong constructivism) • Manyintegrationoutcomescannotbeexplainedwithoutreferencetoideas (but withoutchange in identity) • Ideas and identitiesas EU-levelinstitutions • Ideasasconstraints and resourcesforstrategicaction • Ideasaslimitstointegration (evenifintegrationis rational) • Strategic use of ideas/rhetoricalactionto bring aboutidea-basedoutcomes (evenifintegrationis not rational)

  14. Ideas as limits to integration • Risse et al. 1999: no Euro in Denmark and Britain • Gstöhl 2002: Swiss non-membership < direct democracy, neutrality

  15. Strategic use of ideas: rhetorical action • Schimmelfennig 2001: Eastern enlargement: use of pan-European liberal democraticidentity of the EU bycandidate and pro-enlargement countries toovercomeopposition • Rittberger 2005: increase in EP competencies in order tocreatelegitimacyforintegration • Rittberger and Schimmelfennig 2006: parliamentarization and institutionalization of human rights in the EU

  16. Summary • Hardconstructivism: theoretically strong but empiricallyproblematic • Nopervasivetransformation of identities and basicpoliticalbeliefsevenunder favorable conditions • Ifchangethen not throughcommunicativeactionleadingtointernalization of newbeliefs • Soft constructivism: theoreticallyeclectic but empiricallycorroborated • Domesticresonanceas a limittointegration • European standards of legitimacy and identityclaimsasresourcesforfurtherintegration

More Related