Statesmen of Independence: The International Fabric of Europe's Way of Political Legitimacy

Scholars generally agree that ‘independent’ institutions such as the European Commission, the European Court of Justice and European Central Bank have created a space and role for themselves that has no equivalent in national political settings. However, we still lack a better understanding of the i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Contemporary European history 2018-05, Vol.27 (2), p.183-201
Main Author: VAUCHEZ, ANTOINE
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Archives & records
Bureaucracy
Civil service
Common Agricultural Policy
Councils
Court hearings & proceedings
Diplomatic & consular services
Historiography
History
Humanities and Social Sciences
International law
International relations
Judges & magistrates
Laboratories
Legitimacy
Political science
Politics
Transnationalism
World War I
World War II
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Summary:Scholars generally agree that ‘independent’ institutions such as the European Commission, the European Court of Justice and European Central Bank have created a space and role for themselves that has no equivalent in national political settings. However, we still lack a better understanding of the importance of this independent branch in the EU polity. This article contends that the central relevance of independence is connected to the historically rooted connection between ‘independence’ and ‘international government’ – a relationship the history of which can be traced back to the League of Nations’ foundational period as the inaugural scene for the nexus between power and knowledge in international politics. Ultimately, this article questions the extent to which this specific grammar of international government has been constitutive of the EC polity in terms of valued modes of legitimacy and types of authority.
ISSN:0960-7773
1469-2171
DOI:10.1017/S0960777318000127