Citizens in Europe

"What kind of unity can fragmented and 'post-national' societies achieve in and through the EU? These essays, by two prominent German scholars from the fields of democratic constitutionalism and political sociology, ask questions designed to elicit some answers. 'It is an exciting experience to follow these two brilliant minds on their intellectual itinerary towards path-breaking interpretations of the present fate of democracy in Europe." -- Jurgen Habermas

Claus Offe, born 1940, was Professor of Political Science at Humboldt University, Berlin, where he held a chair in Political Sociology and Social Policy. His previous positions include professorships at the Universities of Bielefeld and Bremen, where he served as director of the Center of Social Policy Research. He has held research fellowships and visiting professorships in the US, Canada, Australia, Hungary, Poland, Austria, Italy, and the Netherlands. Since 2006 he has been Professor of Political Science at Hertie School of Governance, Berlin. His fields of research are democratic theory, transition studies, EU integration, and welfare state and labour market studies. He has published numerous articles and book chapters in these fields, a selection of which is reprinted as Herausforderungen der Demokratie. Zur Integrations- und Leistungsfahigkeit politischer Institutionen (2003). Recent book publications in English include Varieties of Transition (1996), Modernity and the State: East and West(1996), Institutional Design in Post-Communist Societies (1998, with J. Elster and U.K. Preuss), Reflections on America. Tocqueville, Weber, und Adorno in the United States (2005) and Europe Entrapped (2014). Ulrich K. Preuss is Professor emeritus of Law and Politics at Freie Universitat Berlin and at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. In 1989-90, he co-authored the draft of the constitution as a participant of the Round Table of the German Democratic Republic. He has taught at, among others, Princeton University, New School University, the University of Chicago and Haifa University. He served as a judge at the Staatsgerichtshof (State Constitutional Court) in the Land Bremen [state of Bremen] from 1992 unitil 2011. His book publications include, among others, Constitutional Revolution. The Link Between Constitutionalism and Progress, 1995; Institutional Design in Post-Communist Societies. Rebuilding the Ship at Sea (co-authored with Jon Elster and Claus Offe), 1998; Krieg, Verbrechen, Blasphemie. Zum Wandel bewaffneter Gewalt [War, Crime, and Blasphemy. On the changing character of armed conflict]. 2nd ed. 2003; Bedingungen globaler Gerechtigkeit, 2010.

Chapter One - The Union's Course: Between a Supranational Welfare State and Creeping Decay 1 Chapter Two - The Significance of Cognitive and Moral Learning for Democratic Institutions 33 Chapter Three - Democratic Institutions and Moral Resources 49 Chapter Four - Crisis and Innovation of Liberal Democracy: Can Deliberation Be Institutionalised? 73 Chapter Five - Democracy Against the Welfare State? Structural Foundations of Neoconservative Political Opportunities 99 Chapter Six - Toward a New Understanding of Constitutions 129 Chapter Seven - The Political Meaning of Constitutionalism 147 Chapter Eight - Citizenship and Identity: Aspects of a Political Theory of Citizenship 163 Chapter Nine - Competitive Party Democracy and the Keynesian Welfare State: Factors of Stability and Disorganisation 177 Chapter Ten - Main Problems of Contemporary Theory of Democracy and the Uncertain Future of its Practice 199 Chapter Eleven - Constitutionalism in Fragmented Societies: The Integrative Function of Constitutions 211 Chapter Twelve - 'Homogeneity' and Constitutional Democracy: Coping with Identity Conflicts through Group Rights 227 Chapter Thirteen - Perspectives on Post-Conflict Constitutionalism: Reflections on Regime Change Through External Constitutionalisation 255 Chapter Fourteen - Is There, Or Can There Be, a 'European Society'? 283 Chapter Fifteen - Problems of Constitution Making: Prospects of a Constitution for Europe 301 Chapter Sixteen - Revisiting the Rationale Behind the European Union: The Basis of European Narratives Today and Tomorrow 317 Chapter Seventeen - Citizenship in the European Union: A Paradigm for Transnational Democracy? 341 Chapter Eighteen - The Democratic Welfare State in an Integrating Europe 355 Chapter Nineteen - The Constitution of a European Democracy and the Role of the Nation State 379 Chapter Twenty - The Problem of Legitimacy in the European Polity: Is Democratisation the Answer? 389 Chapter Twenty-One - The European Model of 'Social' Capitalism: Can It Survive European Integration? 417 Chapter Twenty-Two - Two Challenges to European Citizenship 449 Chapter Twenty-Three - Europe Entrapped: Does the EU Have the Political Capacity to Overcome its Current Crisis? 471 Index 491