Bulletin n. 1/2009
July 2009
CONTENTS
  • Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government
  • Section B) Global governance and international organizations
  • Section C) Regional integration processes
  • Section D) Federalism as a political idea
    • Bulmer Simon
    Politics in Time meets the politics of time: historical institutionalism and the EU timescape
    in Journal of European Public Policy , Volume 16 Issue 2 2009 ,  2009 ,  307 – 324
    This article considers what light historical institutionalism (HI) may be able to shed on the European Union's (EU's) timescape. Drawing on Paul Pierson's work Politics in Time it reviews what HI has to say about the dual dynamics of path dependent incremental development and radical change (termed punctuated equilibrium or critical junctures) as well as relating to timing, sequencing and long-term processes. It then suggests three areas of EU studies for exploring these contrasting dynamics, namely the integration process as a whole, EU policy dynamics and Europeanization. Applications of HI in EU studies have tended to be empirical and have often neglected to engage with the temporal theorizing embraced by Pierson. The special issue's appeal for a new research agenda on the EU timescape offers the opportunity, it is argued, to rectify the insufficiency of theoretical reflection.
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