Taking the Amsterdam Treaty as object of study, this paper makes the case for an institutionalist perspective of the EU. Institutional reform, it is argued, stems less from member state power and preferences than from path-dependence, internal dynamics and specific circumstances of the ICG.
ARENA Working Paper 21/1998 (html)
Ulf Sverdrup
ARENA Working Paper 22/1998 (No full text version available)
Theodor Barth
ARENA Working Paper 23/1998 (No full text version available)
Tom Notermans
What are the role perceptions of national officials in EU policy-making? Drawing on extensive interview data, this paper seeks to apply key organisational and institutional insights to the EU setting.
ARENA Working Paper 24/1998 (html)
Morten Egeberg
This paper takes as object of study a defining period of Norway's relations to the EU, from 1959, when EFTA was established, to 1962, when Britain's first application for EC membership was vetoed by de Gaulle. It is argued here that EFTA represented an ideal solution for Norway in downplaying political tensions and cleavages in Norway. The option of EC membership, meanwhile, did not acquire any similar policy consensus.
ARENA Working Paper 25/1998 (html)
Hans Otto Frøland
This paper reviews a significant volume discussing the emergence and development of the EMU: The Politics of Economic and Monetary Union by Petri Minkkinen and Heikki Patomäki(eds)
ARENA Working Paper 01/1999 (html)
Bent Sofus Tranøy
What are the causal variables behind domestic structural change? This paper sketches a comparative analysis of three 'most different cases' of the Eastern bloc; one of the conclusions drawn is that individual agency, while crucial in an authoritarian setting, must be supplemented by constructivist insights of social learning and ideational exchange.
ARENA Working Paper 02/1999 (html)
Jeffrey T. Checkel
This paper addresses the overarching question of citizenship and community in the present EU; its key focus is on the Federal Republic of Germany, to which is applied constructivist insights about international normative regimes.
ARENA Working Paper 03/1999 (html)
Jeffrey T. Checkel
Questioning the alleged democratic deficit of the EU, this paper makes the case for discourse theory as alternative to the traditional liberal and republican conceptions of democracy.
ARENA Working Paper 04/1999 (html)
Erik O. Eriksen
This paper discusses the potential of social constructivism to gain a better understanding of international institutions; socialization is conceived of as a key concept for such understanding to be reached.
ARENA Working Paper 05/2004 (html)
Jeffrey T. Checkel
ARENA Working Paper 06/1999 (No full text version available)
Theodor Barth
ARENA Working Paper 07/1999 (No full text version available)
Frode Veggeland
This papers applies role conceptions as conceptual device to show how differing national identities in Britain, Germany and France lead to contrasting foreign policies in a post-Cold-War setting.
ARENA Working Paper 08/1999 (html)
Lisbeth Aggestam
This paper addresses the European Union in a deliberative perspective, portraying deliberation as the only viable procedure of non-coercive integration beyond the nation-state.
ARENA Working Paper 09/1999 (html)
Erik Oddvar Eriksen and John Erik Fossum
ARENA Working Paper 10/1999 (No full text version available)
Jarle Trondal and Frode Veggeland
Why do states comply with international norms? This paper draws together agency-focused regime literature and constructivist accounts of socialization to give a fuller picture of compliance, taking as case study the European human rights regime.
ARENA Working Paper 11/1999 (html)
Jeffrey T. Checkel
This paper discusses oil producer cooperation in the light of regime theory and finds that while such theory may have little specific to offer in this field, there are sound alternative explanations to voluntary cooperation among oil-producing states.
ARENA Working Paper 12/1999 (html)
Dag Harald Claes
This paper studies the rhetoric of Norwegian and Saudi Arabian oil ministers on the basis of John Searle's typology of speech acts.
ARENA Working Paper 13/1999 (html)
Dag Harald Claes
ARENA Working Paper 14/1999 (No full text version available)
Frode Veggeland
How should we conceive of the EU's collective decision to expand towards Central and Eastern Europe? This paper analyses the process and finds that rationalist and constructivist approaches both have something to offer; while pursuit of self-interest may predominate, decision-making is played out within a framework of perceived consensus and need for legitimacy.
ARENA Working Paper 15/1999 (html)
Frank Schimmelfenning
ARENA Working Paper 16/1999 (No full text version available)
Bernard Steunenberg and Antoaneta Dimitrova
ARENA Working Paper 17/1999 (No full text version available)
Carles Boix
ARENA Working Paper 18/1999 (No full text version available)
Andrew Gamble and Gavin Kelly
This paper summarizes two decades of reforming European welfare states, while aspiring to give a balanced prediction for the future; it is argued here that organic adaptation is inherent to welfare regimes, pointing towards certain survival, yet in altered form.
ARENA Working Paper 19/1999 (html)
Stein Kuhnle
How can the inherent tensions between supposedly universal rights and cultural relativism be resolved? This paper takes this question to a concrete evaluation of two policy documents: (i) an UNESCO report and (ii) the Bangkok Declaration, both dealing with Asian, Westen and 'universal' values.
ARENA Working Paper 20/1999 (html)
Andreas Føllesdal