Sandra Kröger
Biographic Data
| ID | 4137169 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sandra Kröger |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sandra |
| FAMILY NAME | Kröger |
| SIGNATURE | KRÖGER S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Exeter |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6069-1064 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 30 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 211 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 30 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
Truthfulness, pluralism and the ethics of democratic representation
It is sometimes suggested that even democratic politicians need to dirty their hands in ways that render hypocrisy, lying and deception unavoidable and even justified. By contrast, we draw on John Rawls’ Political Liberalism to argue that the ‘reasonable disagreements’ occasioned by the ‘fact of pluralism’ that make democratic politics necessary can only be resolved in ways congruent with democratic norms if politicians are truthful in Bernard Wi…
Does Brexit overcome the globalisation trilemma? How British business assess the trade relationship with the EU
According to Rodrick, there is a globalization paradox between democracy, national sovereignty, and economic integration where only two out of these three can ever be achieved. Brexit was presented by its defenders as a way of resolving the trilemma. This contribution uses a novel survey ( n = 95) to examine how UK businesses assess the new Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the UK and the EU and which model of trade they prefer moving forwa…
Differentiated integration as a fair scheme of cooperation
Differentiated integration (DI), whereby some MS opt out or are excluded from certain common EU policies for sovereignty or capacity reasons, may be thought to undermine the EU’s functioning as what John Rawls called a fair scheme of cooperation, grounded in norms of impartiality and reciprocity. However, we argue that different forms of DI can be compatible with either fair cooperation between states on the model of Rawls’ Law of Peoples or coop…
The limits of support for differentiated integration in the European Union as perceived by academic experts
Differentiated integration (DI) in the European Union has recently attracted considerable scholarly and political attention. Yet, we know rather little about where scholars’ normative support of DI begins and where it ends, and whether there is scholarly consensus about which type of DI warrants support. This contribution addresses which type of DI scholars support, and which policy areas should be exempt. It explores these questions by means of …
Party Views on Democratic Backsliding and Differentiated Integration
Both political parties and differentiated integration (DI) play an ambivalent role in regard to democratic backsliding. Parties’ positioning towards democratic backsliding has not always been straightforward, and DI has been seen as facilitating it. We analyse whether party actors view democratic backsliding as a problematic issue for the EU, if they think DI facilitates it, and how they consider the EU should respond to it. Drawing on thirty-fiv…
Party views on differentiated integration
The Risks and Benefits of Differentiated Integration in the European Union as Perceived by Academic Experts
This article sheds light on how academic experts assess the benefits and risks of differentiated integration (DI) in the European Union (EU). DI denotes particular member states either being allowed to opt out of specific EU policies, or being excluded or exempted from participating in them until certain conditions are met. The findings of a novel expert survey ( n = 95) highlight two key divisions amongst experts, namely, first a regional divide…
Introduction: Democratic Challenges of Differentiated (Dis)Integration
In this introduction, we set out what we consider the main current democratic challenges in the EU and, by extension, of differentiated (dis)integration (DI). The EU needs to strike a difficult balance between being an association of states and a supranational polity. As a result, it finds itself in a continuous search for an institutional design that may count as fully democratic. Finally, the EU increasingly suffers from populist and even autoc…
Countering Democratic Backsliding by EU Member States: Constitutional Pluralism and ‘Value’ Differentiated Integration
Constitutional pluralism (CP) and differentiated integration (DI) have been criticised as potentially legitimising democratic backsliding within the EU. Critics contend that effective measures require strengthening the legal authority of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the political authority of the European Commission. We dispute this criticism, which rests on a federal conception of the EU at odds with its confederal features. We…
The Democratic Dilemmas of Differentiated Integration: The Views of Political Party Actors
Differentiated integration (DI) appeals as a pragmatic way of accommodating political and economic differences among member states (MS). However, it potentially challenges their equal standing in EU decision‐making, creating the possibility for some MS to dominate others. As such, it risks undermining the democratic legitimacy of the EU. Drawing on 35 interviews with party actors in seven MS, we find many shared these concerns, thereby questionin…
How a lack of truthfulness can undermine democratic representation: The case of post-referendum Brexit discourses
This article draws attention to how the ethics of democratic representation operates as a discreet factor in a crisis of representation afflicting Western democracies by identifying the ways a disregard for truthfulness can harm democratic representation. We argue that such a disregard undermines democratic representation by (1) reducing freedom and equality, (2) weakening accountability, (3) undermining citizens’ trust in democratic institutions…
Representation and Democracy in the Eu
How limited representativeness weakens throughput legitimacy in the EU: The example of interest groups
Are the interest groups (IGs) that constitute European umbrella organizations capable of cooperating in a way that contributes to the throughput legitimacy of the EU? To answer this question, the representativeness of supranational actors is developed as the central criteria of throughput legitimacy, thereby reconfiguring throughput legitimacy as a two‐level concept. Representativeness is operationalized as consisting of regular contacts between …
Strategic or Principled? The Engagement of Civil Society Organizations with the EU
This article links the literature on the Europeanization of civil society organizations (CSOs) with the literature on the contribution CSOs can make to democracy in the EU. To do so, it asks which are the pull factors that support CSOs’ Europeanization: are they mostly strategic and linked to where law-making and the money are? Or are they likewise linked to a desire to contribute to EU democracy? To explore this question, the article looks at ag…
Realising the Potential of EU Simulations – Practical Guidance for Beginners
The benefits of simulation exercises easily outweigh potential weaknesses, and most of these weaknesses can be addressed by careful preparation. This article seeks to encourage instructors in higher education to embrace simulations as a means of encouraging active learning and greater retention as well as improving student and teacher satisfaction. However, there is not to date much helpful guidance, for first-time appliers, as to how to set up s…
A demoicratic justification of differentiated integration in a heterogeneous EU
Earlier scholarship assumed differentiated integration (DI) was pragmatic and temporary and that member states should and would converge on the same policies. By contrast, we contend that many instances of DI can be normatively justified on democratic grounds of fairness, impartiality and equity as suitable ways to accommodate economic, social and cultural heterogeneity. We distinguish between instrumental, constitutional and legislative differen…
The Europeanisation of interest groups: Beyond access, fit and resources
When addressing the Europeanisation of interest groups, the literature so far has mostly probed three factors: fit, access and resources. This contribution takes a different approach to the topic and proceeds inductively, focusing on how the actors themselves perceive of the EU and their engagement with it. Taking anti-poverty groups as the case, three observations can be made. The first is that none of the factors that emerge from the data on it…
The politicization of European integration: National parliaments and the democratic disconnect
Beyond a constraining dissensus: The role of national parliaments in domesticating and normalising the politicization of European integration
Domesticating the Democratic Deficit? The Role of National Parliaments and Parties in the EU's System of Governance
First published online: August 23, 2012
Representation Deficits and Surpluses in EU Policy-making
Representation and democracy are not always complementary. Sometimes the one undermines the other. Too much democracy can create a representation deficit, as occurs when majorities oppress or neglect minorities. However, the opposite can also arise. The over representation of different groups can undermine the processes whereby representatives are authorised by and accountable to those they are supposed to serve. The EU offers multiple channels o…
Creating a European Demos? The Representativeness of European Umbrella Organisations
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have been viewed by many as a means for democratising the EU and for overcoming its widely perceived democratic deficit. At the EU-level, it is mostly European umbrella organisations of CSOs that contribute to EU policy-making. These umbrella organisations ground their legitimacy partly on the claim of being representative of large constituencies. Similarly, the European Commission hopes to increase the legitima…
Representative Turn in EU Studies
Introduction: The representative turn in EU studies
In everyday discourse, democracy has become associated with representation. Western-style political systems today are generally categorized as representative democracies, as is the EU. The Treaty of Lisbon declares the EU to be founded on representative democracy, with political equality as its normative foundation. However, contemporary processes of diversification, not least that of European integration, pose severe challenges to the historical…
Democratic representation in the EU: Two Kinds of Subjectivity
While the Lisbon Treaty embraces representative democracy and political equality, a clear division or hierarchy of competences is absent. The Treaty distinguishes between an electoral, a territorial, a functional and a direct channel of representation, without clarifying the relationship between them. Moreover, the current system of representation has two different normative subjects: the individual and the state. The former points towards an int…
A demoicratic justification of differentiated integration in a heterogeneous EU
Earlier scholarship assumed differentiated integration (DI) was pragmatic and temporary and that member states should and would converge on the same policies. By contrast, we contend that many instances of DI can be normatively justified on democratic grounds of fairness, impartiality and equity as suitable ways to accommodate economic, social and cultural heterogeneity. We distinguish between instrumental, constitutional and legislative differen…
Domesticating the Democratic Deficit? The Role of National Parliaments and Parties in the EU's System of Governance
First published online: August 23, 2012
The End of Democracy as We Know it? The Legitimacy Deficits of Bureaucratic Social Policy Governance
New modes of governance and, in particular, the Open Method of Coordination (OMC), have attracted considerable and often unduly favourable scholarly attention since 2000. Learning from best practice and increased policy effectiveness are often assumed to be the main outcome of the OMC. In contrast, this contribution seeks to assess the democratic legitimacy of the OMC by using a research design that integrates criteria both from the liberal and t…
Introduction: The representative turn in EU studies
In everyday discourse, democracy has become associated with representation. Western-style political systems today are generally categorized as representative democracies, as is the EU. The Treaty of Lisbon declares the EU to be founded on representative democracy, with political equality as its normative foundation. However, contemporary processes of diversification, not least that of European integration, pose severe challenges to the historical…
Countering Democratic Backsliding by EU Member States: Constitutional Pluralism and ‘Value’ Differentiated Integration
Constitutional pluralism (CP) and differentiated integration (DI) have been criticised as potentially legitimising democratic backsliding within the EU. Critics contend that effective measures require strengthening the legal authority of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the political authority of the European Commission. We dispute this criticism, which rests on a federal conception of the EU at odds with its confederal features. We…
How limited representativeness weakens throughput legitimacy in the EU: The example of interest groups
Are the interest groups (IGs) that constitute European umbrella organizations capable of cooperating in a way that contributes to the throughput legitimacy of the EU? To answer this question, the representativeness of supranational actors is developed as the central criteria of throughput legitimacy, thereby reconfiguring throughput legitimacy as a two‐level concept. Representativeness is operationalized as consisting of regular contacts between …
The politicization of European integration: National parliaments and the democratic disconnect
Democratic representation in the EU: Two Kinds of Subjectivity
While the Lisbon Treaty embraces representative democracy and political equality, a clear division or hierarchy of competences is absent. The Treaty distinguishes between an electoral, a territorial, a functional and a direct channel of representation, without clarifying the relationship between them. Moreover, the current system of representation has two different normative subjects: the individual and the state. The former points towards an int…
Beyond a constraining dissensus: The role of national parliaments in domesticating and normalising the politicization of European integration
Representation Deficits and Surpluses in EU Policy-making
Representation and democracy are not always complementary. Sometimes the one undermines the other. Too much democracy can create a representation deficit, as occurs when majorities oppress or neglect minorities. However, the opposite can also arise. The over representation of different groups can undermine the processes whereby representatives are authorised by and accountable to those they are supposed to serve. The EU offers multiple channels o…
Creating a European Demos? The Representativeness of European Umbrella Organisations
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have been viewed by many as a means for democratising the EU and for overcoming its widely perceived democratic deficit. At the EU-level, it is mostly European umbrella organisations of CSOs that contribute to EU policy-making. These umbrella organisations ground their legitimacy partly on the claim of being representative of large constituencies. Similarly, the European Commission hopes to increase the legitima…
The Effectiveness of Soft Governance in the Field of European Anti-poverty Policy: Operationalization and Empirical Evidence
While the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) literature has been a true growth industry in recent years, very little has been undertaken to develop variables which could be used in empirical research in order to evaluate the effectiveness and the legitimacy of the OMC in different policy fields. It is argued here that: 1) research about the OMC should involve both effectiveness and legitimacy; 2) both effectiveness and legitimacy need to be resear…
The Europeanisation of interest groups: Beyond access, fit and resources
When addressing the Europeanisation of interest groups, the literature so far has mostly probed three factors: fit, access and resources. This contribution takes a different approach to the topic and proceeds inductively, focusing on how the actors themselves perceive of the EU and their engagement with it. Taking anti-poverty groups as the case, three observations can be made. The first is that none of the factors that emerge from the data on it…
The Democratic Dilemmas of Differentiated Integration: The Views of Political Party Actors
Differentiated integration (DI) appeals as a pragmatic way of accommodating political and economic differences among member states (MS). However, it potentially challenges their equal standing in EU decision‐making, creating the possibility for some MS to dominate others. As such, it risks undermining the democratic legitimacy of the EU. Drawing on 35 interviews with party actors in seven MS, we find many shared these concerns, thereby questionin…
Party Views on Democratic Backsliding and Differentiated Integration
Both political parties and differentiated integration (DI) play an ambivalent role in regard to democratic backsliding. Parties’ positioning towards democratic backsliding has not always been straightforward, and DI has been seen as facilitating it. We analyse whether party actors view democratic backsliding as a problematic issue for the EU, if they think DI facilitates it, and how they consider the EU should respond to it. Drawing on thirty-fiv…
Party views on differentiated integration
How a lack of truthfulness can undermine democratic representation: The case of post-referendum Brexit discourses
This article draws attention to how the ethics of democratic representation operates as a discreet factor in a crisis of representation afflicting Western democracies by identifying the ways a disregard for truthfulness can harm democratic representation. We argue that such a disregard undermines democratic representation by (1) reducing freedom and equality, (2) weakening accountability, (3) undermining citizens’ trust in democratic institutions…
Differentiated integration as a fair scheme of cooperation
Differentiated integration (DI), whereby some MS opt out or are excluded from certain common EU policies for sovereignty or capacity reasons, may be thought to undermine the EU’s functioning as what John Rawls called a fair scheme of cooperation, grounded in norms of impartiality and reciprocity. However, we argue that different forms of DI can be compatible with either fair cooperation between states on the model of Rawls’ Law of Peoples or coop…
The Risks and Benefits of Differentiated Integration in the European Union as Perceived by Academic Experts
This article sheds light on how academic experts assess the benefits and risks of differentiated integration (DI) in the European Union (EU). DI denotes particular member states either being allowed to opt out of specific EU policies, or being excluded or exempted from participating in them until certain conditions are met. The findings of a novel expert survey ( n = 95) highlight two key divisions amongst experts, namely, first a regional divide…
Strategic or Principled? The Engagement of Civil Society Organizations with the EU
This article links the literature on the Europeanization of civil society organizations (CSOs) with the literature on the contribution CSOs can make to democracy in the EU. To do so, it asks which are the pull factors that support CSOs’ Europeanization: are they mostly strategic and linked to where law-making and the money are? Or are they likewise linked to a desire to contribute to EU democracy? To explore this question, the article looks at ag…
Die Offene Methode der Koordinierung: Zehn Jahre später und (k)ein bisschen weiser
Dieser Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit ausgesuchten blind spots der OMK Literatur. Insbesondere wird die in der Forschung zentrale Lernhypothese auf unterschiedlichen Ebenen hinterfragt. Stattdessen werden andere Mechanismen aufgezeigt, kraft derer die OMK möglicherweise wirkungsmächtig ist. Zweitens wird die Annahme, dass die OMK ein neutrales Instrument sei, das jegliche Sorte Politiken zu transportieren in der Lage sei, kritisch diskutiert. Es ze…
The End of Democracy as We Know it? The Legitimacy Deficits of Bureaucratic Social Policy Governance
New modes of governance and, in particular, the Open Method of Coordination (OMC), have attracted considerable and often unduly favourable scholarly attention since 2000. Learning from best practice and increased policy effectiveness are often assumed to be the main outcome of the OMC. In contrast, this contribution seeks to assess the democratic legitimacy of the OMC by using a research design that integrates criteria both from the liberal and t…
Soft governance in hard politics: European coordination of anti-poverty policies in France and Germany
Soft Governance in Hard Politics: European Coordination of Anti-Poverty Policies in France and Germany
Introducing the Lisbon Strategy and the OMC - State of the Art - Research Framework - The OMC Inclusion at national level - The OMC Inclusion at EU-Level - Evaluation by involved actors - Conclusion and outlook
The Effectiveness of Soft Governance in the Field of European Anti-poverty Policy: Operationalization and Empirical Evidence
While the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) literature has been a true growth industry in recent years, very little has been undertaken to develop variables which could be used in empirical research in order to evaluate the effectiveness and the legitimacy of the OMC in different policy fields. It is argued here that: 1) research about the OMC should involve both effectiveness and legitimacy; 2) both effectiveness and legitimacy need to be resear…
Die Offene Methode der Koordinierung: Zehn Jahre später und (k)ein bisschen weiser
Dieser Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit ausgesuchten blind spots der OMK Literatur. Insbesondere wird die in der Forschung zentrale Lernhypothese auf unterschiedlichen Ebenen hinterfragt. Stattdessen werden andere Mechanismen aufgezeigt, kraft derer die OMK möglicherweise wirkungsmächtig ist. Zweitens wird die Annahme, dass die OMK ein neutrales Instrument sei, das jegliche Sorte Politiken zu transportieren in der Lage sei, kritisch diskutiert. Es ze…
Representation Deficits and Surpluses in EU Policy-making
Representation and democracy are not always complementary. Sometimes the one undermines the other. Too much democracy can create a representation deficit, as occurs when majorities oppress or neglect minorities. However, the opposite can also arise. The over representation of different groups can undermine the processes whereby representatives are authorised by and accountable to those they are supposed to serve. The EU offers multiple channels o…
Creating a European Demos? The Representativeness of European Umbrella Organisations
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have been viewed by many as a means for democratising the EU and for overcoming its widely perceived democratic deficit. At the EU-level, it is mostly European umbrella organisations of CSOs that contribute to EU policy-making. These umbrella organisations ground their legitimacy partly on the claim of being representative of large constituencies. Similarly, the European Commission hopes to increase the legitima…
Representative Turn in EU Studies
Introduction: The representative turn in EU studies
In everyday discourse, democracy has become associated with representation. Western-style political systems today are generally categorized as representative democracies, as is the EU. The Treaty of Lisbon declares the EU to be founded on representative democracy, with political equality as its normative foundation. However, contemporary processes of diversification, not least that of European integration, pose severe challenges to the historical…
Democratic representation in the EU: Two Kinds of Subjectivity
While the Lisbon Treaty embraces representative democracy and political equality, a clear division or hierarchy of competences is absent. The Treaty distinguishes between an electoral, a territorial, a functional and a direct channel of representation, without clarifying the relationship between them. Moreover, the current system of representation has two different normative subjects: the individual and the state. The former points towards an int…
Domesticating the Democratic Deficit? The Role of National Parliaments and Parties in the EU's System of Governance
First published online: August 23, 2012
The politicization of European integration: National parliaments and the democratic disconnect
Beyond a constraining dissensus: The role of national parliaments in domesticating and normalising the politicization of European integration
Strategic or Principled? The Engagement of Civil Society Organizations with the EU
This article links the literature on the Europeanization of civil society organizations (CSOs) with the literature on the contribution CSOs can make to democracy in the EU. To do so, it asks which are the pull factors that support CSOs’ Europeanization: are they mostly strategic and linked to where law-making and the money are? Or are they likewise linked to a desire to contribute to EU democracy? To explore this question, the article looks at ag…
Realising the Potential of EU Simulations – Practical Guidance for Beginners
The benefits of simulation exercises easily outweigh potential weaknesses, and most of these weaknesses can be addressed by careful preparation. This article seeks to encourage instructors in higher education to embrace simulations as a means of encouraging active learning and greater retention as well as improving student and teacher satisfaction. However, there is not to date much helpful guidance, for first-time appliers, as to how to set up s…
A demoicratic justification of differentiated integration in a heterogeneous EU
Earlier scholarship assumed differentiated integration (DI) was pragmatic and temporary and that member states should and would converge on the same policies. By contrast, we contend that many instances of DI can be normatively justified on democratic grounds of fairness, impartiality and equity as suitable ways to accommodate economic, social and cultural heterogeneity. We distinguish between instrumental, constitutional and legislative differen…
The Europeanisation of interest groups: Beyond access, fit and resources
When addressing the Europeanisation of interest groups, the literature so far has mostly probed three factors: fit, access and resources. This contribution takes a different approach to the topic and proceeds inductively, focusing on how the actors themselves perceive of the EU and their engagement with it. Taking anti-poverty groups as the case, three observations can be made. The first is that none of the factors that emerge from the data on it…
How limited representativeness weakens throughput legitimacy in the EU: The example of interest groups
Are the interest groups (IGs) that constitute European umbrella organizations capable of cooperating in a way that contributes to the throughput legitimacy of the EU? To answer this question, the representativeness of supranational actors is developed as the central criteria of throughput legitimacy, thereby reconfiguring throughput legitimacy as a two‐level concept. Representativeness is operationalized as consisting of regular contacts between …
How a lack of truthfulness can undermine democratic representation: The case of post-referendum Brexit discourses
This article draws attention to how the ethics of democratic representation operates as a discreet factor in a crisis of representation afflicting Western democracies by identifying the ways a disregard for truthfulness can harm democratic representation. We argue that such a disregard undermines democratic representation by (1) reducing freedom and equality, (2) weakening accountability, (3) undermining citizens’ trust in democratic institutions…
Representation and Democracy in the Eu
Party views on differentiated integration
The Risks and Benefits of Differentiated Integration in the European Union as Perceived by Academic Experts
This article sheds light on how academic experts assess the benefits and risks of differentiated integration (DI) in the European Union (EU). DI denotes particular member states either being allowed to opt out of specific EU policies, or being excluded or exempted from participating in them until certain conditions are met. The findings of a novel expert survey ( n = 95) highlight two key divisions amongst experts, namely, first a regional divide…
Introduction: Democratic Challenges of Differentiated (Dis)Integration
In this introduction, we set out what we consider the main current democratic challenges in the EU and, by extension, of differentiated (dis)integration (DI). The EU needs to strike a difficult balance between being an association of states and a supranational polity. As a result, it finds itself in a continuous search for an institutional design that may count as fully democratic. Finally, the EU increasingly suffers from populist and even autoc…
Countering Democratic Backsliding by EU Member States: Constitutional Pluralism and ‘Value’ Differentiated Integration
Constitutional pluralism (CP) and differentiated integration (DI) have been criticised as potentially legitimising democratic backsliding within the EU. Critics contend that effective measures require strengthening the legal authority of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the political authority of the European Commission. We dispute this criticism, which rests on a federal conception of the EU at odds with its confederal features. We…
The Democratic Dilemmas of Differentiated Integration: The Views of Political Party Actors
Differentiated integration (DI) appeals as a pragmatic way of accommodating political and economic differences among member states (MS). However, it potentially challenges their equal standing in EU decision‐making, creating the possibility for some MS to dominate others. As such, it risks undermining the democratic legitimacy of the EU. Drawing on 35 interviews with party actors in seven MS, we find many shared these concerns, thereby questionin…
Political science (27 works) · Law (26 works) · Politics (26 works) · European Union Policy and Governance (23 works) · Economics (21 works) · Law (20 works) · Sociology (18 works) · Democracy (17 works) · European union (16 works) · Political economy (15 works)