IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jcmkts/v61y2023i4p900-916.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Symmetry in the Delegation of Power as a Legitimacy Criterion

Author

Listed:
  • Trym Nohr Fjørtoft
  • Hallvard Sandven

Abstract

The EU's power is expanding, calling for reassessments of its normative legitimacy. This article proposes a novel criterion for assessing the EU's legitimacy: symmetry in the delegation of power. We illustrate the usefulness of this criterion through an analysis of the European border regime. Existing analyses of the border regime have tended to dismiss it as weak and intergovernmental. We show, to the contrary, that it is both strong and weak. The EU wields significant power in border control but lacks power altogether in immigration policy. This asymmetry has rendered the EU incapable of discharging the moral responsibilities that arise in migration control, posing a novel legitimacy challenge. Finally, we argue that the symmetry criterion generalizes and can shed light on the EU's legitimacy beyond the area of migration.

Suggested Citation

  • Trym Nohr Fjørtoft & Hallvard Sandven, 2023. "Symmetry in the Delegation of Power as a Legitimacy Criterion," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 900-916, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:61:y:2023:i:4:p:900-916
    DOI: 10.1111/jcms.13429
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13429
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jcms.13429?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jack S. Levy, 2008. "Case Studies: Types, Designs, and Logics of Inference," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 25(1), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Verdun, Amy, 1998. "The Institutional Design of EMU: A Democratic Deficit?," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(2), pages 107-132, May.
    3. Ariadna Ripoll Servent, 2018. "A New Form of Delegation in EU Asylum: Agencies as Proxies of Strong Regulators," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 83-100, January.
    4. Philipp Genschel & Markus Jachtenfuchs, 2018. "From Market Integration to Core State Powers: The Eurozone Crisis, the Refugee Crisis and Integration Theory," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 178-196, January.
    5. Schmid, Lukas, 2022. "Saving Migrants’ Basic Human Rights from Sovereign Rule," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 116(3), pages 954-967, August.
    6. Sandra Lavenex, 2018. "‘Failing Forward’ Towards Which Europe? Organized Hypocrisy in the Common European Asylum System," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(5), pages 1195-1212, July.
    7. Andrew W. Neal, 2009. "Securitization and Risk at the EU Border: The Origins of FRONTEX," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 333-356, March.
    8. Grant, Ruth W. & Keohane, Robert O., 2005. "Accountability and Abuses of Power in World Politics," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 99(1), pages 29-43, February.
    9. Nina Perkowski, 2019. "‘There Are Voices in Every Direction’: Organizational Decoupling in Frontex," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(5), pages 1182-1199, September.
    10. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:47:y:2009:i::p:333-356 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Arne Niemann & Johanna Speyer, 2018. "A Neofunctionalist Perspective on the ‘European Refugee Crisis’: The Case of the European Border and Coast Guard," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 23-43, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Danilo Di Mauro & Vincenzo Memoli, 2021. "The Role of Public Opinion in EU Integration: Assessing the Relationship between Elites and the Public during the Refugee Crisis," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(5), pages 1303-1321, September.
    2. Trym N. Fjørtoft, 2022. "More power, more control: The legitimizing role of expertise in Frontex after the refugee crisis," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(2), pages 557-571, April.
    3. Marta Migliorati, 2020. "The Post‐agencification Stage between Reforms and Crises. A Comparative Assessment of EU agencies' Budgetary Development," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(6), pages 1393-1412, November.
    4. Jonas Tallberg & Thomas Sommerer & Theresa Squatrito, 2016. "Democratic memberships in international organizations: Sources of institutional design," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 59-87, March.
    5. Klaus H. Goetz & Ronny Patz & Theresa Squatrito, 2017. "Resourcing Global Justice: The Resource Management Design of International Courts," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 8, pages 62-74, August.
    6. Marco Grasso & J. David Tàbara, 2019. "Towards a Moral Compass to Guide Sustainability Transformations in a High-End Climate Change World," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-16, May.
    7. O. Fiona Yap, 2020. "A New Normal or Business-as-Usual? Lessons for COVID-19 from Financial Crises in East and Southeast Asia," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(5), pages 1504-1534, December.
    8. Lisa Kastner, 2017. "Tracing policy influence of diffuse interests: The post-crisis consumer finance protection politics in the US," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-02186320, HAL.
    9. Patrick S. Roberts & Jon Schmid, 2022. "Government‐led innovation acceleration: Case studies of US federal government innovation and technology acceleration organizations," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 39(3), pages 353-378, May.
    10. Daniel L. Nielson & Susan D. Hyde & Judith Kelley, 2019. "The elusive sources of legitimacy beliefs: Civil society views of international election observers," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 685-715, December.
    11. Joerges, Christian, 2007. "Integration through de-legislation? An irritated heckler," European Governance Papers (EUROGOV) 3, CONNEX and EUROGOV networks.
    12. Vrânceanu, Alina & Dinas, Elias & Heidland, Tobias & Ruhs, Martin, 2023. "The European refugee crisis and public support for the externalisation of migration management," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 279441, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    13. Dermot Hodson, 2013. "The Eurozone in 2012: ‘Whatever It Takes to Preserve the Euro'?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51, pages 183-200, September.
    14. Iliana Olivié & Aitor Pérez, 2016. "Why don’t donor countries coordinate their aid? A case study of European donors in Morocco," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 16(1), pages 52-64, January.
    15. Moritz Rehm, 2021. "Tug of War over Financial Assistance: Which Way Forward for Eurozone Stability Mechanisms?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(2), pages 173-184.
    16. Said TOPAL & Branislav Radeljic, 2023. "Does “Fortress Europe” have an alternative? EU member states between solidarity and national interests," Eastern Journal of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 14, pages 79-103, June.
    17. Georgios Dimitropoulos, 2022. "The use of blockchain by international organizations: effectiveness and legitimacy [The governance of blockchain dispute resolution]," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 41(3), pages 328-342.
    18. Lisa Kastner, 2016. "The Power of Weak Interests in Financial Reforms," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-02187883, HAL.
    19. Philippe Stoesslé & Valeria Alejandra Patiño Díaz & Yetzi Rosales Martínez, 2020. "Transnational Advocacy Networks of Migrants and Asylum Seekers’ Human Rights: The San Diego—Tijuana Border in the Trump Era," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-21, August.
    20. Lisa Kastner, 2017. "Tracing policy influence of diffuse interests: The post-crisis consumer finance protection politics in the US," Post-Print hal-02186320, HAL.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:61:y:2023:i:4:p:900-916. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0021-9886 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.