VL IB: European Policy Making

Explaining European Integration

What are the criticisms of Neofunctionalism?

1. Grand theoretical pretensions
2. Assertion that spillover is (almost) inevitable
3. Underestimation of continued impact of sovereignty consciousness / nationalism as barriers to integration process
4. Overestimation of the role and impact of supranational institutions
5. Lack of attention paid to domestic political processes / structures
Result -> Late 60s / early 70s attempts to revise some of the hypotheses and claims; in the mid-70s Haas has declared the theory to be "obsolete"

Diskussion