EU Normative Power and Regionalism: Ideational Diffusion and its Limits
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In: Cooperation and Conflict, Vol. 48, No. 2, 06.2013, p. 211-228.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - EU Normative Power and Regionalism
T2 - Ideational Diffusion and its Limits
AU - Lenz, Tobias
PY - 2013/6
Y1 - 2013/6
N2 - The ideational impact captured by Manners's notion of normative power Europe (NPE) appears most distinct and potentially most consequential in the realm of regionalism. However, empirical research on the topic has been hampered by the focus on EU actorness and methodological difficulties. Drawing on diffusion theory, this article develops conceptual, theoretical and methodological foundations for conceiving NPE as ideational diffusion. It argues that Europe's ideational influence on regionalism can be fruitfully understood as the largely indirect process by which the EU experience travels to other regions through socialization and emulation. Yet, as structural conditions vary across regions, EU ideational diffusion rarely leads to similar or even comparable institutional practices and outcomes. A choice-orientated approach is proposed for examining these claims empirically, which focuses on specifying the underlying counterfactual: political decisions in regionalism would have been different in the absence of the EU. The article concludes by outlining the analytical and normative promise of the proposed recasting of Manners's original concept.
AB - The ideational impact captured by Manners's notion of normative power Europe (NPE) appears most distinct and potentially most consequential in the realm of regionalism. However, empirical research on the topic has been hampered by the focus on EU actorness and methodological difficulties. Drawing on diffusion theory, this article develops conceptual, theoretical and methodological foundations for conceiving NPE as ideational diffusion. It argues that Europe's ideational influence on regionalism can be fruitfully understood as the largely indirect process by which the EU experience travels to other regions through socialization and emulation. Yet, as structural conditions vary across regions, EU ideational diffusion rarely leads to similar or even comparable institutional practices and outcomes. A choice-orientated approach is proposed for examining these claims empirically, which focuses on specifying the underlying counterfactual: political decisions in regionalism would have been different in the absence of the EU. The article concludes by outlining the analytical and normative promise of the proposed recasting of Manners's original concept.
KW - Diffusion
KW - EU as a model
KW - normative power
KW - regional economic integration
KW - regionalism
KW - Politics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84878649499&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0010836713485539
DO - 10.1177/0010836713485539
M3 - Journal articles
AN - SCOPUS:84878649499
VL - 48
SP - 211
EP - 228
JO - Cooperation and Conflict
JF - Cooperation and Conflict
SN - 0010-8367
IS - 2
ER -