Böcker av Richard (University College London) Bellamy

The European Union (EU) is often portrayed as sacrificing national diversity for European unity. This book explores the alternative of a flexible EU based on differentiated rather than uniform integration. The authors combine normative theory with empirical research on political party actors to assess the desirability and political acceptability of differentiated integration as a means of accommodating heterogeneity in the EU. They examine the circumstances and institutional design needed for flexibility to promote rather than undermine fairness and democracy within and between member states. Clear, balanced, and accessible, the book provides fresh thinking on the future of the EU.

Bellamy deploys a novel republican account of the legitimacy of international organisations, to locate the EU's democratic deficiencies and their resolution at the national rather than the supranational level. This is for readers interested in global democracy, global justice, the statism-cosmopolitanism debate, EU politics, and republican theory.

Richard Bellamy questions the effectiveness and legitimacy of judicial review by constitutional courts, suggesting that existing democratic systems actually offer superior and sufficient methods for protecting and promoting rights. He argues that judicial review lacks popular accountability and is thus a form of arbitrary rule.