Theoretical Framework

Work package 1

 

WP leader: 

Erik O. Eriksen, ARENA, University of Oslo
 

The nation state has been the institutional mainstay of modern democracy. Today, this particular political form is challenged and may be transcended by something new. Can the state form as such be rescued in Europe, and if so, at what level? Are alternative forms more viable? WP 1 sets out RECON’s theoretical framework and develops indicators to test three different models for reconstituting democracy in Europe: 

 

  • Can democracy in Europe be reconstituted at the national level, with a concomitant reframing of the EU as a functional regulatory regime?
  • Can democracy be reconstituted through establishing the EU as a federal state based on a collective identity?
  • Can democracy in Europe be reconstituted through developing a post-national Union with an explicit cosmopolitan imprint?
WP 1 leads the work of operationalising each of the three models, establishing indicators and linking them to the particular analytical challenges raised in the policy fields and issue areas addressed by RECON. The WP ensures overall coherence and integration of the project and develops an overarching theoretical approach to the study of European democracy.
More details on the research objectives of WP 1.

 
WP 1 events

Publications and activities


Scientific synergies at JWGU

Heike List (JWGU) has written a report on how RECON and the Cluster of Excellence ‘The Formation of Normative Orders’ are currently exhibiting scientific synergies and bringing together partners from different countries and professional backgrounds at the Goethe University in Frankfurt. Read the report.

 


Core group WP 1:

ARENA, University of Oslo
Erik O. Eriksen (leader WP 1), John Erik Fossum, Christopher Lord, Cathrine Holst, Anne Elizabeth Stie, Daniel Gaus

Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt
Rainer Forst, Heike List
Rainer Schmalz-Bruns (University of Hannover)

Peace Research Institute Frankfurt
Nicole Deitelhoff 

 

Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC):

Erik O. Eriksen (WP 1), ARENA, University of Oslo

Ben Crum (WP 2), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

John Erik Fossum (WP 2 and WP 9), ARENA, University of Oslo

Chris Lord (WP 3), ARENA, University of Oslo

Yvonne Galligan (WP 4), Queen’s University Belfast

Ulrike Liebert (WP 5), University of Bremen

Hans-Jörg Trenz (WP 5), ARENA, University of Oslo

Helene Sjursen (WP 6), ARENA, University of Oslo

Wolfgang Wagner (WP 6), Peace Research Institute Frankfurt

Agustín José Menéndez (WP 7), University of León

Zdzislaw Mach (WP 8), Jagiellonian University, Krakow

Christian Joerges (WP 9), European University Institute, Florence

 

Consortium meetings

Project management structure