Why the UK Voted for Brexit: David Cameron's Great Miscalculation (Palgrave Pivot 2016)
This book studies the unprecedented decision of 23 June 2016, which saw the UK electorate vote to leave the EU, turning David Cameron’s referendum gamble into a great miscalculation. It analyzes the renegotiation that preceded the vote, before examining the campaign itself so as to understand why the government’s strategy for winning foundered. It then evaluates the implications that this decision has for the country’s international relations as well as for its domestic politics. The author’s final reflections are on the political philosophy of Brexit, which is founded on a critique of representative democracy. Yet the use of direct democracy to trigger EU withdrawal leaves the supposedly sovereign British people at an impasse. For it is up to the people’s representatives to negotiate the terms of Brexit. By engaging with a highly charged political debate in an accessible and non-partisan manner this book will appeal to a broad readership of academics, policy-makers, journalists, and interested citizens.
“A brilliant treatment of the Brexit drama and its implications, which manages both to be concise and to provide many illuminating details of the historical and political context.” (Ronald J. Granieri, Foreign Policy Research Institute, USA)
Reviewed in LSE Review of Books and Foreign Affairs
The Politics of European Integration: Political Union or a House Divided? (Wiley 2014)
This book has also been published in Greek as Η ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗ ΤΗΣ ΕΥΡΩΠΑΪΚΗΣ ΟΛΟΚΛΗΡΩΣΗΣ
This is the first solo-authored textbook on the subject since the 2009 Lisbon Treaty. The volume provides a systematic, up–to–date exploration of the politics of European integration that includes balanced coverage of the strengths and weaknesses of the European Union. It examines European integration as a contested political process that continues to divide and inspire nations, citizens, and politicians Provides students with the analytical tools to consider why the EU functions as it currently does, whether the EU is sufficiently democratic, the politics behind EU legislation, debates over foreign policy, proposals for institutional reform, and the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis Brings together the latest scholarly research from comparative politics, international relations, law, and democratic theory .
Read the introduction
Read Chapter One 'The Idea of Europe: Foundations and Justifications for Unity'
I also designed a companion website to furnish students with extra learning resources, including flashcards, glossaries, and independent study questions. See www.wiley.com/go/glencross
Reviewed in:
Journal of Common Market Studies
Political Studies Review
Politics in Central Europe
EU Federalism and Constitutionalism: The Legacy of Altiero Spinelli (edited with Alexander H. Trechsel, Lexington 2010).
This edited volume, to which I contributed a chapter and wrote the conclusion, represents the first book-length study of the travails of the implementation of federalism at the European level from the perspective of Altiero Spinelli's ideas and his political life, which were both devoted to a federally united Europe. It is also a timely publication given the protracted struggle to implement a new EU institutional architecture-the 2009 Lisbon Treaty-that is already being tested by the fallout from the global financial crisis. This fallout has brought into stark relief the tensions within the EU over the question of enhancing solidarity and federal unity or remaining a looser association of sovereign states. Hence by examining the successes and failures of federalism within the EU system, the book seeks to explain not only how the EU has reached its current impasse but also how it may fare in the future. To achieve this objective, the book takes an interdisciplinary approach that covers all three dimensions of the European project: historical, legal, and political. Consequently, the book offers a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the history, evolution, and future of federal principles and institutions in the European integration process.
PDF of proofs
Reviewed in Regional and Federal Studies (2013); Associazione Universitaria di Studi Europei (in Italian)
What Makes the EU Viable? European Integration in the Light of the Antebellum US Experience (Palgrave 2009)
This book is distinguished by its use of the antebellum US experience as a foil to address the under-explored question of what makes the EU viable. The nature of political conflict in both cases is defined in terms of four contested rules of the game: state sovereignty, federal competences, political representation and decision-making procedures. Hence, viabilty is conceptualized as the ability to find an agreement over these four elements.
The analysis shows that, to remain viable, the antebellum USA resorted to an ultimately untenable voluntary centralization of these rules of the game. Conversely, the EU has maintained a dynamic equilibrium, although this is not a self-reinforcing process. The transatlantic contrast is then used to examine proposals for reforming the EU, especially its system of political representation. The comparison reveals that, despite high expectations, changing the system of representation is no shortcut solution for the EU's constitutional woes.
PDF of proofs
Reviewed in: Journal of Common Market Studies; Journal of Transatlantic Studies; Political Studies Review; Regional and Federal Studies