| Politics and the European Commission: Actors, Interdependence, Legitimacy Contributor(s): Smith, Andy (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0415324076 ISBN-13: 9780415324076 Publisher: Routledge OUR PRICE: $37.95 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: June 2004 Annotation: The European Commission, with its reputation as a 'bureaucrat's paradise', has come to both fascinate and repulse a wide range of politicians, journalists and social scientists. This book investigates the Commission's relationship to politics, arguing that, in contrast to prevailing opinion, the process of European integration constantly requires political choices and powering from its civil servants. The authors collected here develop a variety of case studies - focusing on issues such as health, development aid, preparations for Eastern enlargement, the resignation of the Santer commission and the Euro - in order to study the relationships, networks and interdependencies which link commissioners and Commission officials to national politicians, civil servants and interest groups. The book also looks in detail at how the Commission publicizes its work, notably through producing public information and liaising with the media, throwing fresh light upon the complex question of the organization's legitimacy. "Politics and the European Commission "provides a framework for generating new information about, and interpretations of, the power struggles at the heart of the European Union. It will interest all students and researchers of politics and the EU. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Political Science | International Relations - General - Political Science | Comparative Politics - Law | International |
| Dewey: 341.242 |
| LCCN: 2003027986 |
| Series: Routledge/ECPR Studies in European Political Science |
| Physical Information: 0.73" H x 6.1" W x 9.56" (1.13 lbs) 246 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The European Commission is an organization which has come to fascinate or repulse a range of national politicians, journalists and social scientists. In contrast to the prevailing image of the Commission as a 'bureaucrat's paradise', however, and by using the results of original research, this book deliberately sets out to investigate this organization's relationship to politics. It does so first by developing a variety of case-studies (health, development aid, preparations for Eastern enlargement, etc.) as a means of studying the relationships, networks and interdependencies which link commissioners and Commission officials to national politicians, civil servants and interest groups. Second, by looking in detail at how the Commission publicizes its work, notably through producing public information and liaising with the media, fresh light is shone upon the complex question of the Commission's legitimacy. Politics and the European Commission provides a framework for generating new information about, and interpretations of, the power struggles at the heart of the EU. |
