Multi-level governance and European integration

Book abstract:

European integration and regionalisation have been instrumental in creating multi-level governance in the last 50 years. National policy-making is now often undertaken at European level institutions and regionalisation has shifted some political authority to subnational levels. This book examines the character, causes and consequences of multi-level governance. It draws on published and unpublished work recently undertaken by the authors.

The book has three main parts. Part 1, Sources of Multi-Level Governance, provides a broad historical context of multi-level governance. It examines questions such as the extent to which Europeans have multiple identities and why leaders of national governments diffuse authority out of their own hands. Part 2, Multi-Level Governance with the Regions, focuses on the supra/subnational relationships characterising multi-level governance in Europe. Variations in the European Union's cohesion policy and the broader political issues that shape this policy are examined. Part 3, Contestation in a Multi-Level Polity, looks at the political dynamics of multi-level governance. Issues examined include political conflict in multi-level polity, the political orientations to European integration of European Commission officials and the response of national political parties to this.

The book is academic in content and aimed at students of European society and politics. Liesbet Hooghe is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina. Gary Marks is Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina and Director of the UNC centre for European Studies.

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