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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Toward a Sociology of EU Politics

Niilo Kauppi

subject

Sociological theoryInternational relationsPoliticsParliamentPolitical economymedia_common.quotation_subjectEuropean integrationmedia_common.cataloged_instanceSociologyPolityEuropean unionDemocracymedia_common

description

In this chapter, the author discusses some of the intellectual tools that sociology can mobilize in the analysis of European Union (EU) politics, and then follows with a closer investigation of some sociological research. To illustrate EU politics, this chapter concentrates on the European Parliament, the most democratic European institution. The author contrasts the sociological approach and its advantages with more traditional research in political science and international relations. European integration has provided new objects of analysis for sociologists. Some focus on the EU as a new polity. Others have developed a more specific approach that has been labeled structural constructivist. This perspective highlights the general and specific structures of power and competition that keep societies together by analyzing individual and group action.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2018-01-01
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71002-0_1