Vincent Della Sala

Constitution-making and Citizenship Practice – Bridging the Democracy Gap in the EU?

The article identifies the democracy gap as the tension in the European Union (EU) between demands for participatory constitutionalism and the limited capacity of constitutional engineering to meet them. It works with the concept of citizenship practice as the process that establishes the institutionalized terms of citizenship within a polity. The article argues that conventional views of constitutionalism have not accounted for a process that will bridge this gap; and uses the case of citizenship and constitutionalism to illustrate the paradox that, while there is a widespread consensus in favour of liberal democratic constitutional objectives and principles, constitutional agreements have faced significant opposition.

Political Myth, Mythology and the European Union

The EU, as is commonly held, is a different form of political rule: a polity based on rationality and functional interests, not emotional appeals. Without reference to the narrative of the nation or the state, the question emerges as to whether the European Union needs or has myths? If it does, what are they and how successful have they been? The aim of this article – indeed of the special issue – is to explore the role of political myth in creating normative and cognitive foundations for governing in the EU and to examine whether these are applicable to the case of the European Union.

Hollowing out and hardening the state: European integration and the Italian economy

This account uses the case of budgetary politics to argue that European integration and economic interdependence have contributed to the ‘hollowing out’ and hardening of the Italian state. It argues that there has been a displacement of national state authority to other levels of government and to parts of civil society. This requires state structures that are lesspermeable topenetration and demands from civilsociety. In turn, a ‘hollowed out’ state becomes a less likely target for societal interests as state authority is displaced. Italian budgetary politics, characterised recently by the quest to achieve the convergence criteria set out in the Treaty on European Union, illustrate both these processes; that is, state authority being displaced and decreasing access for societal demands.

The Italian budgetary process: Political and institutional constraints

The Italian budgetary process requires constant interaction between executive and legislature. As a result budgetary policy is a reflection of Italian legislative activity in general. Time‐consuming negotiations and compromises are required between a wide range of political interests. Coherent and consistent economic policy‐making is, in these circumstances, difficult to achieve.

Patriot games: the regulation of online gambling in the European Union

ABSTRACT The recent economic crisis has brought into focus how even open and highly interdependent economies in the European Union try to govern their economies according to territorially defined interests. The aim of this article is to examine an area, online gambling, with the technological and legal conditions that challenge approaches that favour economic patriotism. The article compares two cases, the United Kingdom and Italy, that represent two different models of economic governance to argue that they are similar in which interests they seek to protect and at which level.

Narrating Europe: the EU's ontological security dilemma

Identifying the narratives that social actors tell and use can provide us with some insight into how they have understood the world around them, when and how they should act and why. The argument a...ABSTRACT Identifying the narratives that social actors tell and use can provide us with some insight into how they have understood the world around them, when and how they should act and why. The argument about narratives and ontological security in the EU will make three points when examining two European stories: the EUs foundational narrative and that of united in diversity. First, the EU seeks ontological security generated through narratives. Second, the EUs narratives are not that different from those of national experiences. Third, and relatedly, narratives that attempt to construct ontological security for the EU may increase ontological insecurity in other actors.

Stakes and states: gambling and the single market

The paper argues that institutional accounts are useful but incomplete in providing an understanding the dynamics of the completion of the internal market. This is because they do not leave enough room for ideas and norms, which have been central to the gambling story. The paper argues that prevailing norms about gambling, which have associated it with inter alia charities, criminal activity, public health and public order, have worked to mitigate the desire for a single market and arguments about the efficiency of market liberalization. Gambling is a useful case to illustrate that there is ambivalence about market building that tries to reconcile possible efficiency gains that come with enhanced competition with an aversion to promoting risk.The paper argues that institutional accounts are useful but incomplete in providing an understanding the dynamics of the completion of the internal market. This is because they do not leave enough room for ideas and norms, which have been central to the gambling story. The paper argues that prevailing norms about gambling, which have associated it with inter alia charities, criminal activity, public health and public order, have worked to mitigate the desire for a single market and arguments about the efficiency of market liberalization. Gambling is a useful case to illustrate that there is ambivalence about market building that tries to reconcile possible efficiency gains that come with enhanced competition with an aversion to promoting risk.

Homeland security: territorial myths and ontological security in the European Union

AbstractThe EU may be a sui generis polity but it has not escaped the challenge of establishing narratives that help define its territoriality. Political narratives about territoriality, especially political myths, are important instruments for political communities to develop ontological security. The article argues that the European Union faced a dilemma in the refugee crisis in balancing its foundational values with a narrative about a territory with managed external borders. The EU’s territorial myth is not entirely successful in that it lacks some key narrative forms that are essential for widely diffused myths. Territorial myths are not just about establishing borders but also about defining the community; so long as this remains ill-defined, the paper argues, territorial myths will contribute in a limited way to providing the ontological security to address pressing challenges.Abstract The EU may be a sui generis polity but it has not escaped the challenge of establishing narratives that help define its territoriality. Political narratives about territoriality, especially political myths, are important instruments for political communities to develop ontological security. The article argues that the European Union faced a dilemma in the refugee crisis in balancing its foundational values with a narrative about a territory with managed external borders. The EU’s territorial myth is not entirely successful in that it lacks some key narrative forms that are essential for widely diffused myths. Territorial myths are not just about establishing borders but also about defining the community; so long as this remains ill-defined, the paper argues, territorial myths will contribute in a limited way to providing the ontological security to address pressing challenges.

Realism in the EU: Can a Trans-national Actor Be Strategic?

The aim of this chapter is not to trace the development of the EU’s foreign policy or to provide a comprehensive discussion of particular cases. Our objective is to examine some of the challenges that the EU faces in trying to act “strategically” in geopolitical spaces in close proximity and which have been traditionally sources of the types of conflict that led to the reasons for the creation of the Union in the 1950s. The global reach of the EU and its member states inevitably means that it takes on many different roles in its foreign policy and approaches to international relations. However, we will focus on two areas that are particularly useful to illustrate the challenges the EU faces in being a strategic actor as well as the continuing or growing nationalization of foreign policy: its actions in the Balkans and the EU’s relations with Russia. Our argument is that both areas present not only foreign policy challenges but also existential issues that point to the EU’s lack of ontological security. They highlight the tension in the growing need to make strategic choices in both cases while remaining consistent with its narrative of a benign, normative power.

Politics without a centre

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