West European Politics Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:

Transcription

1 This article was downloaded by: [Universiteit Leiden / LUMC] On: 12 September 2013, At: 05:05 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: Registered office: Mortimer House, Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK West European Politics Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: Research Design in European Studies: Establishing Causality in Europeanization Antoaneta Dimitrova a a Leiden University Published online: 06 Aug To cite this article: Antoaneta Dimitrova (2013) Research Design in European Studies: Establishing Causality in Europeanization, West European Politics, 36:5, , DOI: / To link to this article: PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the Content ) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sublicensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly

2 forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

3 Book Reviews 1113 cant than changes in the party s public face. However, when changes did occur vis-à-vis the Conservatives public face, these tended to be in office, albeit perhaps reflecting the longevity of the and Tory governments. He draws the same conclusion with regard to changes in party policy. By contrast, when organisational changes were pursued, these tended to be when the Conservatives were in opposition. Bale concludes that, ultimately, the most important driver of change in the Conservative Party, particularly with regard to policy, is the leader(ship), although he is quick to acknowledge that not all of the party s leaders have sought to pursue policy changes or innovation, with Winston Churchill being a notable example. By contrast, Macmillan, Heath and (especially) Thatcher were prominent policy innovators. Given the focus of most Conservative leaders on policy innovation, Bale also notes, unsurprisingly, that few Conservative leaders have evinced much interest in organisational issues; reform of the extra-parliamentary party has usually been ascribed a low priority by the leadership, especially when the Conservatives have been in government. Conservative leaders have, though, often played a more significant role in shaping the public face of the party, partly by their pursuit of, or identification with, particular policies, and partly by the front-bench appointments they make. This was especially true of the Thatcher premiership, for although she never (contrary to common wisdom) appointed a Cabinet of yes men, she did appoint fellow ideologues to the most important ministries, namely those of an economic character Treasury, Trade and Industry, Employment. These disciples of Thatcherism could, in turn, be viewed as a dominant faction in the Conservative Party in the 1980s, for their political influence was seemingly much greater than their numerical strength; they were (until the latter stage of Thatcher s premiership) a remarkably coherent, cohesive and confident coterie of like-minded individuals who greatly assisted Thatcher in imposing policy change on a sometimes sceptical or nervous parliamentary Conservative Party. Yet Bale also wisely offers some caveats, lest the role of the Conservative leader in driving change is overstated. First, he notes that some of the significant policy changes which have occurred since the 1950s have been prompted by exogenous factors, and, as such, have not been enacted as a consequence of a conscious choice or strategic decision by the leadership; instead, they have been effectively imposed on the Conservative leadership as a result of what Macmillan claimed kept him awake at night: events, dear boy, events. Second, many changes in both the organisation and the public face of the Conservative Party have derived from wider socio-economic and demographic changes in British society, whereupon the membership and public image of the Conservative Party since the 1960s David Cameron notwithstanding has become much more middle class and meritocratic, a change that Thatcher herself personified. Bale has written yet another seminal book on the contemporary Conservative Party. Meticulously researched, cogently argued and lucidly written, this is deservedly destined to be absolutely essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the internal dynamics of Britain s oldest and most (electorally) successful political party. Peter Dorey Cardiff University Research Design in European Studies: Establishing Causality in Europeanization Edited by Theofanis Exadaktylos and Claudio M. Radaelli Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2012, 296 pp., 63.00, ISBN (hbk) The challenges of identifying the methodological shortcomings of existing empirical work are often much less daunting than the challenges of developing and applying a

4 1114 Book Reviews sound research design. The editors of the book Research Design in European Studies: Establishing Causality in Europeanization have risen to the greater challenge and aimed to provide an example how we should set up research in Europeanisation as well as an overview of relatively new and unexplored approaches to Europeanisation research. Therefore, despite the enormous growth of this field, this volume s goal and contribution are quite original. Furthermore, the very growth of the Europeanisation literature requires periodical re-examining to take stock of achievements and problems and to connect earlier findings with newer approaches and concepts and redefine the research agenda accordingly. The stock-taking exercise is perhaps less original than the book s first goal, but it is no less topical, necessary and insightful. Defining the appropriate research design of Europeanisation studies in a broad context of different approaches and even ontological assumptions and resolving problems of measurement, observation and impact over time remains a difficult task. The first chapter, with its careful and thoughtful analysis of the pitfalls in establishing causation sets out the framework of the project and is written, accordingly, from a perspective which is both critical and constructive. The second chapter follows with an original meta-analysis that starts from several clearly defined research questions related to causality and research design and analyses a carefully selected sample of articles on Europeanisation. The quantitative analysis includes variables such as whether articles deal with Europeanisation of policy or politics and whether the analysis is from a comparative politics or policy analysis perspective and leads to some surprising findings, for example about the predominance of ideational explanations in analyses finding Europeanisation in policy. While these two chapters make an important contribution to the field that should instigate further debate and reflection, the rest of the book seems to strive, not always successfully, to reconcile different objectives through a varied selection of themes and approaches. Some chapters continue with the stock-taking exercise and evaluate problems in research design or suggest new approaches. The discussion of quantitative studies of the impact of EU legislation is a mix of meta-analysis and overview and quite informative, even if more limited in ambition and scope. Another chapter combining analysis and overview, by Saurugger, goes further in elaborating concepts used in the field, in keeping with the book s message that conceptual clarification is an important first step of research design. Other chapters seem to switch to a different mode and focus on policy sectors: from health care to foreign policy and party politics. While well written, these chapters seem to vacillate between providing an example of an appropriate research design with some empirical analysis applying it (e.g. Martinsen, Panke), and outlining possible approaches to analysing developments in a certain field without application (e.g. Dossi). From my perspective, the combination between research design discussion and an illustrative case study as in the chapter on process tracing by Panke is the more fruitful one. Chapters providing no empirical illustration of their proposed approach to research design or just offering prescriptions how the analysis could be done (e.g. Dossi and to some extent Lynggaard) seem to avoid the most difficult part of the exercise applying one s methodological notions to empirical material. Overall, this differentiation of chapter approaches creates an uneven impression. With each following chapter the initial clarity of purpose in elaborating and illustrating aspects of research design seems to be obscured. Furthermore, not all the chapters conform to the same high standard. The choice in this book has clearly been to include more chapters of shorter length and less depth of analysis, but to present different aspects of the research design challenges introduced initially. A more stringent selection might have allowed some more

5 Book Reviews 1115 depth and elaboration. Nevertheless, the volume as a whole contains a number of interesting and a few outstanding contributions that bring the debate on Europeanisation further and should lead us when we consider new research projects in Europeanisation and their design. Antoaneta Dimitrova Leiden University The Early Warning System for the Principle of Subsidiarity: Constitutional Theory and Empirical Reality By Philipp Kiiver Routledge, Abingdon, 2012, 176 pp., 75.00, ISBN (hbk) National parliaments are often regarded as the main losers of European integration and their weakness is one of the main arguments underpinning discussion focusing on the EU s democratic deficit. However, over the last decades national parliaments have witnessed a slow, but constant upgrading of their formal powers. While the annexes to the Maastricht Treaty rather vaguely talk of the role to be played by legislatures, the protocol on the role of national parliaments of the Amsterdam Treaty was more vocal in this regard and this development has been further reinforced with the Lisbon Treaty. Indeed, one of the most important novelties of the EU s Lisbon Treaty has been the strengthening of the role of national parliaments as guardians of subsidiarity in the institutional structure of the Union. National parliaments are now directly referred to in both the Treaty itself and two of its protocols. The Treaty has established a new Early Warning System (EWS), which offers new scrutiny rights to national parliaments. According to Articles 7(2) and 7(3) of the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, by using the yellow and orange card mechanisms parliaments can now submit reasoned opinions on legislative drafts coming from the European Commission. Philipp Kiiver s new book provides the first comprehensive book-length evaluation of these new developments from a constitutional theory perspective. Kiiver starts with an impressive tour de force which combines a historical overview of legal and political science scholarship regarding the democratic deficit, the role of parliaments in the EU and different techniques of adaptation by national parliaments to the EU institutional architecture. Cross-fertilising theoretical and analytical perspectives driven by political science with constitutional theory makes the book equally interesting for readers in both camps. The third and fourth chapters, dealing with procedural aspects and the material scope of the EWS, respectively, are good examples for this. While providing an in-depth, but jargon-free, legal analysis of the treaty text regarding the EWS, Kiiver deconstructs most of it by highlighting the sloppiness of the single passages. As a political scientist, I found these sections perhaps the most informative ones. Few things seem to be watertight: it appears that not even parliaments can be clearly defined. Does the EWS equally apply to different chambers? And what about regional parliaments? Procedural issues about the usage of the yellow and orange card procedure are equally open for interpretation: do reasoned opinions resulting in an orange card cumulate to a yellow one? How can partial breaches of subsidiarity be addressed? Which roles have the national languages of the member states? When does the eight-week period provided for scrutiny start do all other member states have to wait until the Maltese translation is provided? The same kind of confusion seems to apply to the usage of the principle of subsidiarity. After analysing the highly divergent