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Why did Western European states agree to the enlargement of the EU and NATO? Frank Schimmelfennig analyzes the history of the enlargement process and develops a theoretical approach of 'rhetorical action' to explain why it occurred. While rationalist theory explains the willingness of East European states to join the NATO and EU, it does not explain why member states decided to admit them. Using original data, Schimmelfennig shows that expansion to the East can be understood in terms of liberal democratic community building. Drawing on the works of Jon Elster and Erving Goffman, he demonstrates that the decision to expand was the result of rhetorical action. Candidates and their supporters used arguments based on collective identity, norms and values of the Western community to shame opponents into acquiescing to enlargement. This landmark book makes an enormous contribution to theory in international relations and to the study of European politics.

What kind of Europe does the European Commission want? Should the EU be supranational or intergovernmental? Should the Commission be Europe's government or civil service? Based on interviews with 137 top Commission officials, Hooghe finds that the Commission is no less divided on European integration than Europe's leaders and citizens.

This book argues that Europeanization's effect on the politics and institutions of EU states depends on the degree of conflict between European and domestic norms. She examines the relationship between the central state and regions in Germany and Spain, showing how Europeanization has weakened regional powers, but in strikingly different ways.

Immigration is a central issue in European politics. Gallya Lahav's 2004 book places the issue in the context of a Europe where the logic of the single market clashes with national policymaking. The book shows how restrictive immigration policies have been adopted, despite the requirements of open borders.

Michael Smith analyses the growth of foreign and security policy cooperation between member states of the EU and examines the dynamics that have produced the current policy process. This perceptive, well-informed analysis draws on extensive empirical evidence, including interviews and official documents.

Over the past half-century, Europe has experienced the most radical reallocation of authority that has ever taken place in peace-time. This2004 volume brings together a formidable group of scholars of European and comparative politics to investigate the new patterns of political conflict that are arising in the European Union.

What accounts for compliance beyond the nation-state? Comparing compliance with regulations that have been formulated in a very similar way at different levels of governance, the authors demonstrate that verification and sanctioning systems seem to be more important than the presence of an agent that is able to enforce rules.

What does EU law truly mean for the member states? Do they abide or don't they, and why? This book presents the first encompassing and in-depth empirical study of the effects of 'voluntaristic' and (partly) 'soft' EU policies in all 15 member states.

Over the past half-century, Europe has experienced the most radical reallocation of authority that has ever taken place in peace-time. This2004 volume brings together a formidable group of scholars of European and comparative politics to investigate the new patterns of political conflict that are arising in the European Union.

Knill provides a comparative assessment of the factors influencing administrative adjustment to European policy demands. His empirical focus considers the administrative impact of EU environmental policy in Britain and Germany. This study will interest students and scholars of European studies, comparative politics, environmental politics, public administration and organisational studies.

Why do some international negotiations succeed while others collapse, and why do some states gain more than others from multilateral cooperation? This 2006 book analyses the role of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and how the institutional properties of the chair impact on negotiations.

With the European Parliament comprising politicians from many different countries, cultures, languages, national parties and institutional backgrounds, one might expect politics in the Parliament to be highly-fragmented and unpredictable. By studying more than 12,000 recorded votes between 1979 and 2004 this 2007 book establishes that the opposite is in fact true: transnational parties in the European Parliament are highly cohesive and the classic 'left-right' dimension dominates voting behaviour. Furthermore, the cohesion of parties in the European Parliament has increased as the powers of the Parliament have increased. The authors suggest that the main reason for these developments is that like-minded MEPs have incentives to form stable transnational party organizations and to use these organizations to compete over European Union policies. They suggest that this is a positive development for the future of democratic accountability in the European Union.

The European Court of Justice's activism is now widely accepted as transforming the Treaty of Rome into a 'supranational constitution' granting rights to individual citizens. Cichowski examines the consequences for civil society, courts and public policy reform, and for the construction of a system of European governance.

What is the true meaning of the European Union's motto, 'United in Diversity'? Focusing on language politics and policies, Peter Kraus offers a thorough assessment of the far-reaching implications of cultural and linguistic diversity for the process of constructing a European polity.

What accounts for compliance beyond the nation-state? Comparing compliance with regulations that have been formulated in a very similar way at different levels of governance, the authors demonstrate that verification and sanctioning systems seem to be more important than the presence of an agent that is able to enforce rules.

What effect is European integration having on national cultures and policies? In this book, Kurzer demonstrates how the impact of the single market has led to adjustments which have brought policy on moral issues such as abortion, drug policy, and restrictive drinking measures into closer alignment within the EU.