IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cup/intorg/v56y2002i01p47-84_44.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Showing Ideas as Causes: The Origins of the European Union

Author

Listed:
  • Parsons, Craig

Abstract

Why did Western Europe create uniquely strong international institutions in the 1950s, setting the foundations for today's quasi-federal European Union? This article contests explanations of the European Economic Community (EEC) as a straightforward response to structural interdependence, or as an institutionally “path-dependent” variation on such a response. Only leadership based on certain ideas explains why Europeans created the EEC rather than pursuing cooperation within weaker institutions or standard diplomatic instruments. In France—the only major state that insisted on the “community” framework—divided preferences and issue-linkages created “multiple equilibria” that allowed leaders to mobilize support for several European strategies. The EEC strategy was selected over viable alternatives by leaders who stood out from their party, bureaucratic, sectoral, and regional allies in holding certain ideas about Europe. This demonstration of the major, distinct impact of ideas offers concrete support to the growing theoretical literature on ideas and norms.

Suggested Citation

  • Parsons, Craig, 2002. "Showing Ideas as Causes: The Origins of the European Union," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(1), pages 47-84, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:intorg:v:56:y:2002:i:01:p:47-84_44
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S002081830244163X/type/journal_article
    File Function: link to article abstract page
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Egor Fedotov, 2017. "Host governments, national minorities, and minorities’ kin states: assessing the triadic nexus," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 3(1), pages 1-5, December.
    2. Eichengreen, Barry, 2002. "Lessons of the Euro for the Rest of the World," Institute of European Studies, Working Paper Series qt16g425jb, Institute of European Studies, UC Berkeley.
    3. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:48:y:2010:i::p:1-19 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:48:y:2010:i::p:1351-1365 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Parsons, Craig & Richardson, J. David, 2004. "Lessons for Asia?: European experiences--in American perspective--in legitimizing market integration," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(6), pages 885-907, January.
    6. David Krogmann, 2024. "Here to stay? Challenges to liberal environmentalism in regional climate governance," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 15(2), pages 288-300, May.
    7. William R. Lowry, 2009. "Policy Changes on Canada's Rivers: Different but not Isolated," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 26(6), pages 783-800, November.
    8. Vincent Della Sala, 2010. "Political Myth, Mythology and the European Union," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 1-19, January.
    9. Sabine Saurugger, 2016. "Sociological Approaches to the European Union in Times of Turmoil," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 70-86, January.
    10. Stéphanie C. Hofmann, 2011. "Why Institutional Overlap Matters: CSDP in the European Security Architecture," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 101-120, January.
    11. Kai Liu & Wen Liu, 2015. "The Development of EU Law in the Field of Occupational Health and Safety: A New Way of Thinking," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 40(3-4), pages 207-238, August.
    12. Odelia Oshri & Tamir Sheafer & Shaul R Shenhav, 2016. "A community of values: Democratic identity formation in the European Union," European Union Politics, , vol. 17(1), pages 114-137, March.
    13. Léger Félix Ntienjom Mbohou, 2023. "Understanding the role of institutions in the multiple streams approach through the recognition of the diaspora as a development agent in Cameroon," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 56(2), pages 355-376, June.
    14. Urwana Coiquaud & Lucie Morissette, 2022. "The politics of Uber in Quebec. A discursive institutionalist study," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(1), pages 91-108, January.
    15. Schäfer, Armin, 2003. "Stabilizing postwar Europe: Aligning domestic and international goals," MPIfG Working Paper 03/8, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    16. Per M. Norheim‐Martinsen, 2010. "Beyond Intergovernmentalism: European Security and Defence Policy and the Governance Approach," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(5), pages 1351-1365, November.
    17. Christoph O. Meyer & Eva Strickmann, 2011. "Solidifying Constructivism: How Material and Ideational Factors Interact in European Defence," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 61-81, January.
    18. Daniel Béland & John Myles, 2008. "Policy Change in the Canadian Welfare State: Comparing the Canada Pension Plan and Unemployment Insurance," Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers 235, McMaster University.
    19. Eduardo Araral & Alberto Asquer & Yahua Wang, 2017. "Regulatory Constructivism: Application of Q Methodology in Italy and China," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 31(8), pages 2497-2521, June.

    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:cup:intorg:v:56:y:2002:i:01:p:47-84_44. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Kirk Stebbing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cambridge.org/ino .

    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.