Review by Choice Review
Like a reluctant groom who knows marriage is inevitable but clings fondly to memories of bachelorhood, nations of the European Union remain poised on the brink of comprehensive economic and political union. In a timely revised edition of their Policy-Making in the European Community (2nd ed., 1983), the authors assess the current state of the EU's policy process in the face of ever closer political integration. In 14 case studies by a number of experts on topics ranging from "high politics" (defense) to "low politics" (the banana trade), the volume explores the complexity of policy making amid the tension of national and transnational interests. The authors argue persuasively "that the centrality of the European [nation] state has been progressively reduced" by economic, technological, and social changes of the last ten years. The text examines multilevel governance as a "federal" analogy, much like John McCormick's The European Union (1996), but unlike the more concise McCormick text, which provides a general overview of the entire EU process, the Wallaces' large volume falls into the increasing body of literature that focuses on the minutiae of labyrinthine policy making. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. C. J. Luna San Diego Mesa College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
