The Illusion of Accountability in the European Union (Routledge Advances in European Politics)

Christer Karlsson, Thomas Persson, Sverker Gustavsson

ISBN 10: 041548099X / ISBN 13: 9780415480994

Published by Routledge 2009-08-05, 2009

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 6666-TNFPD-9780415480994

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Illusion of Accountability in the European Union (Routledge Advances in European Politics)
• Publisher: Routledge 2009-08-05
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 041548099X
• ISBN 13: 9780415480994
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

This book examines accountability in the EU from different perspectives and considers whether EU citizens have real opportunities for holding decision-makers accountable. This book critically analyses five arguments which claim there are sufficient means for holding decision-makers to account in the Union.

The main conclusion is that the current institutional set-up and practice of decision-making in the EU is one that merely creates an illusion of accountability.

Using a strict framework focusing on the difference between formal mechanisms and actual opportunities for accountability, this highly coherent volume will be of interest to students and scholars of European politics, especially those interested in the democratic foundations of the European political system.

Chapter 1 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

About the Author

Sverker Gustavsson is Jean Monnet Professor of European political integration at the Department of Government, Uppsala University, Sweden. His main research interests are European constitutional affairs, welfare state theory and research policy doctrines. Christer Karlsson is Associate Professor in the Department of Government, Uppsala University. His main research interests are democratic theory, European Union politics and international climate change negotiations. Thomas Persson is Researcher in the Department of Government, Uppsala University. His research interests include the involvement of civil society and interest groups in European Union politics, and the impact of European integration on national political systems.