ABSTRACT
Europeanization is a two-way process. It entails a ‘bottom-up’ and a ‘top-down’ dimension. The former emphasizes the evolution of European institutions as a set of new norms, rules and practices, whereas the latter refers to the impact of these new institutions on political structures and processes of the Member States. For a long time, European studies have been mostly concerned with the bottom-up dimension, exploring the underlying dynamics and potential outcomes of the European institution-building process (see Chapter 9). In recent years, however, a literature has emerged which analyses the impact of the evolving European system of governance on the domestic institutions of the Member States (Cowles et al, 2001; Goetz and Hix, 2000; Héritier et al, 2002). Without denying the twoway nature of Europeanization, most studies self-consciously concentrate on one side of the equation. They ‘bracket’ European-level processes to analyse their effects at the Member State level or vice versa.
