ABSTRACT

The European Union - a supranational system with its own institutional characteristics and autonomy - has a structure and functional logic which are more similar to those of the US than those of European nation states. Yet, by and large, the EU and the US tend to be analyzed more as potential geopolitical and economic rivals or allies than compared as institutional peers.

By bringing together some of the most influential political scientists and historians to compare the European and American experiences of federalism, Democracy and Federalism in the European Union and the United States explores the future development, and seeks a better understanding, of a post-national European Union democracy. This book consists of three core parts:

  • how the EU has developed and the implications of the process of European federalization
  • the features of American federalism, tracing the intellectual debate that led to the approval of the American federal constitution in 1787
  • the future of European Union.

This is essential reading for all students of European politics, democracy and international relations.

chapter 1|22 pages

Is the EU exceptional?

The EU and the US in comparative perspective

part |2 pages

Part I The EU from federalist projects to a supranational polity

chapter 2|17 pages

European federalism

Past resilience, present problems

chapter 3|13 pages

The constitutionalization of the EU

Steps towards a supranational polity

part |2 pages

Part II Features and problems of the US federal polity

chapter 6|11 pages

Territory, electorates and markets in the US

The construction of democratic federalism and its implications for the EU

chapter 7|13 pages

Citizens in American federalism

Locating accountability in a dispersed system

part |2 pages

Part III Market, state and social rights in the EU and the US

chapter 8|14 pages

Building a market without a state

The EU in an American perspective

chapter 9|15 pages

European polity-building

Searching for legitimacy between economic and social Europe

chapter 10|17 pages

Is social capitalism exportable?

Considerations from the EU enlargement

part |2 pages

Part IV The constitutional challenges of a supranational polity