Abstract
The World War II (WWII) as a great shock significantly weakened the European nation-state paradigm and gave the European elites a chance to achieve a ‘paradigm shift’ from ‘the nation-state paradigm’ to a ‘federalist paradigm’. However, the nation-state’s strong institutionalization did not allow a paradigm shift and the WWII actually created a ‘paradigm duplication’ in the European integration process. In this two-layered atmosphere, ‘democracy’ was conceptualized under the influence of ‘federalist intellectual paradigm’ but its implementation had to be achieved in the nation-state paradigm. Therefore, this anomaly has played a significant role in the recent stalemate the European integration process has faced. For example, the literature clearly shows the relationship between the sensitivity of European nations towards their national sovereignty and the rise of Euroscepticism in the European integration process. Moreover, the institutional and legitimate strength of the nation-state gives the nation-state paradigm a gravitational power, which gradually weakens the feasibility of the ideas originating from the federalist paradigm. As a result, this article argues that a more symbiotic institutionalization of democracy and sovereignty is necessary to make the European integration more attractive again.
Highlights
The Second World War was a great shock which weakened the Westphalian political order in Europe (De Wilde, 2016, p. 153); it did not result in a dramatic change from the European nation-state system to a federal European system
The decline of the nation-state oriented political system in Europe due to the World War II (WWII) brought about the emergence of a new group of elites (Eurocrats), who had a strong belief that the only way to establish peace in Europe would be through a federal/supranational institutionalization since, according to them, nationalism was the main reason behind the warfare in Europe
The WWII as a great shock could not result in a ‘paradigm shift’ but ‘paradigm duplication’ in Europe’s post-war era
Summary
The Second World War was a great shock which weakened the Westphalian political order in Europe (De Wilde, 2016, p. 153); it did not result in a dramatic change from the European nation-state system to a federal European system. The ambition to institutionalize democracy at the EU level according to a federal logic has become one of the main reasons behind the current stalemate in the European integration process. It analyses how the institutional and legitimate strength of the nation-state gives the member states a gravitational power in the European integration process which gradually weakens the feasibility of the federal project.
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