Sub-national mobilization and European integration: Does it make any difference?

Abstract

Work on multi-level governance has refashioned conceptions in political science of EU politics and policy-making, giving due weight for the first time to the importance of sub-national actors. This article builds on the pioneering contributions on multi-level governance by Gary Marks and others to develop a framework for analysis rooted in the functions of sub-national authorities in their domestic political contexts. This domestic politics approach to multi-level governance is then developed, through consideration of a series of variables, to address a question which has rarely been posed hitherto: do the EU-focused activities of sub-national governments actually make any difference in the structure of authoritative decision-making in the EU?