The Case of the EU: Implications for Federalism

Abstract

The presence of federal governance mechanisms in the European Union has been observed and discussed for over a decade. This article proposes to take these observations further and accept the Union as a federal polity according to the criteria established in federal theory. Doing so highlights the need to adapt federal theory so as to usefully accommodate the Union within its boundaries. By clarifying definitions and critically examining pre-modern federal theory from Johannes Althusius, we can demonstrate how such adaptation can take place. Furthermore, the article argues that historical institutionalism can be employed to uncover how the Union became a federal polity. Three hypotheses are generated to explain the phenomenon of federalization in the Union.