European integration and democracy: the differences among member states

Abstract

This article explores the impact of European integration on member states' particular formulae for democracy. It examines the differential responses of member states to the European Union (EU) institutional structures that, in being more federal than unitary and more a confusion of powers than a separation of such, have altered the balance of power among national institutions and weakened national governmental autonomy and control over national constituencies; and to the EU policy-making processes that, in being more pluralist than statist or corporatist, often clash with member state approaches to policy formulation and implementation and have served to alter the state-society relationship and even to reduce citizen participation in decision-making.