Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The paper adopts a historical sociological perspective to investigate the concept Europeanization in a long-term perspective, which challenges the conventional assumption that Europeanization has its origin in Europe and that it is purely an outward going process. It is argued that although the term ?Europeanization?, suggests a European heritage, that in fact ?Europeanization? can be conceptualized as several different processes of identity constructions where Europeans have been as much on the receiving end of norm socialization as they have been promoters of a specific European norm set. In fact before Europeans could themselves ?Europeanize? they had to develop a European identity through processes of civilization, which although the ideas and inventions on which Europe?s civilization were based had their origin in the East, nevertheless succeeded in constructing Europe as culturally, religiously and racially superior. Following the Second World War, a new form of Europeanization emerged based on new norms (democracy, market economy, human rights, the rule of law, non-discrimination and good governance) and new self/other categorizations, where ironically Europeans have been Europeanized mostly by Americans. The paper ends by speculating on the implications of Globalization on Europeanization ? is Europeanization increasingly becoming an internal process designed to defend the cherished position as Europeans as the ?haves? against the ?have nots? in a globalized world?

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper claims that the European Union (EU) has had a very peculiar relationship with the globalized post-Cold War economic order. On the one hand, the EU was instrumental in bringing about this order. It aggressively promoted (both internally and externally) the principles and policies upon which this economic order has been based. On the other hand, this proactive engagement was translated within the EU into a highly polarized and antagonistic public discourse that led to a serious identity crisis. In this way, it is argued that economic globalization emerged in the EU as a debate on the nature and future of Europe. After 2005, this polarized and antagonistic discourse started to change. The rise of flexicurity, as a new way of thinking about Europe’s place and orientation in the global political economy, has been instrumental in this shift. The paper examines and evaluates these developments and their implications for the European project.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: There is a widespread view that the process of European integration and the laws and policies of the European Union threaten the long-term viability of the “European Social Model” including rights enshrined in many national constitutions. Proponents argue that European integration creates de jure and de facto barriers to the sustainability of the welfare state. European Union law and processes, it is alleged, destabilize national welfare systems and impose a neo-liberal agenda on Member States. In this view, economic integration unleashes forces that contribute to the lowering of social standards while the EU’s economic constitution places limits of the capacity of both the Union and the Member States to intervene to stem the erosion. While proponents of this view assert that the only way to preserve the welfare state is to centralize social protection at the Union level, this paper argues that such centralization is neither feasible nor desirable, and sets forth an argument for why current law and available forms of alternative governance give the Union and Member States adequate capacity to handle these matters.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper examines the determinants of public attitudes towards EU membership in the ten candidate countries of Central and Eastern Europe. It integrates theories of public opinion on EU integration for Western and Eastern Europe, and tests the derived hypotheses with data from the 2002 Candidate Countries Eurobarometer, using multinomial logit. The results confirm that education, income, and cognitive mobilization are positively related to support for EU membership, but occupation is not significant, except for the negative attitude of farmers. Also, positive economic perceptions and expectations increase support for EU membership, as well as reported satisfaction with democracy in the country, trust in government, and the belief that the country historically belongs to Europe. An interaction model comparing the relative impact of the public opinion determinants for more successful versus less successful transition countries indicates that economic determinants have a bigger impact for the successful countries, while satisfaction with democracy is more important for the less successful countries.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to analyze in detail consequences of lowering voter turnout in CEE countries. I hypothesize that lowering voter turnout was associated with increasing support for pro-European parties (or more broadly defined pro-European camp). I asses my hypothesis through quantitative analysis of electoral data from pre-accession period (years 1990-2003, 10 new EU member states). My statistical analysis suggests that support for pro-European parties was gradually increasing (in most CEE countries) as the voter turnout was going down. The analysis therefore has important implications for our understanding of voter turnout decrease in CEE. Usually it has been argued that this process has only negative consequences. My findings show somewhat different picture: successful EU enlargement and accession of 10 new members was possible not despite the lowering voter turnout, but due to this process. If voter turnout had not been decreasing, more citizens would have participated in elections (among them opponents of accession), election results had been different, anti-European parties had been stronger, and thus the whole process of accession had been much more complex and difficult to control (or maybe even unsuccessful).