As Europe Gets Larger, Will It Disappear

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12693276
AutoresJeffrey S Kopstein (0000-0002-4585-1920, University of Toronto, autor de correspondencia), Jeffrey Kopstein, David Reilly (0000-0003-1227-9806, Niagara University)
Año2006
Volumen8
Número1
Páginas140-150
Fecha de publicación2006-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Studies Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1468-2486 • E-ISSN: 1521-9488
EditorialOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1468-2486.2006.00570_1.x
OpenAlexW1984504075
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas4
Referencias citadas47

Political theorists from Plato and Aristotle to Machiavelli and Montesquieu have frequently commented on the connection between the size of a political community and its coherence. The dominant strand of thought in Western political theory suggests the importance of restricting the size of a political unit. Small political units more readily maintain solidarity and find common interests among members than larger ones. Large political units, by contrast, have trouble sustaining the affections of the citizenry and quickly become administratively unwieldy. It is important to note, however, that not all classical theorists share the same pessimism about large communities. The founders of the US republic believed, for a number of reasons, that only a territorially large and diverse United States would be viable. Madison's argument in Federalist 10, that only a large United States would succeed in balancing sectional interests off against each other, is the best known but certainly not the only version of the “size increases coherence” strain of US liberal and republican thought

Argument (complex analysis · Coherence (philosophical gambling strategy · Epistemology · Federalist · Law and economics · Pessimism · Political economy · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Solidarity · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · European Union Policy and Governance · Law · Philosophy · Social Policy and Reform Studies