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Towards a Legal Theory of Supranationality ‐ The Viability of the Network Concept
Author(s) -
Ladeur Karl–Heinz
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
european law journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.351
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1468-0386
pISSN - 1351-5993
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0386.00018
Subject(s) - unitary state , normative , politics , german , relevance (law) , state (computer science) , law and economics , order (exchange) , political science , nationalism , epistemology , territorial integrity , sociology , law , positive economics , economics , computer science , philosophy , archaeology , finance , algorithm , sovereignty , history
Though heated, recent debate on the German Federal Court’s ‘Maastricht’ judgment may be argued to have overlooked one of the primary problems posed by European integration: the lack of new concepts to describe the emerging supranational order. The following argues that a discussion which on the one hand has overstressed the significance of nationalism, and which on the other continues to seek a ‘normative’ basis for a collective European order, has failed to pay due regard to the practical–functional elements of historical nation–state building. Further, such analyses have failed to recognise that traditional, hierarchical, centralised and unitary states have long been transformed ‘from within’ through a process of pluralisation and fragmentation. Accordingly, the ‘network–concept’ is tested here not only for its viability as a basis for a new conceptualisation of a supranationality which is characterised by heterarchical and decentralised relationships, but also for its relevance for the re–conceptualisation of the political and legal structures of the traditional nation–state.