Evolutionstheoretische Erklärungen technischer Entwicklung haben in der letzten Zeit an Stellenwert gewonnen. Die vorliegende Arbeit sieht zwei Schwachstellen dieser Ansätze. Zum einen fehlt eine über stochastische Prozesse hinausgehende Erklärung der Entstehung von Varianz. Zum anderen wird...

This paper contributes to the ongoing discussion about the scope for autonomous action of supranational organizations in the European Union, focussing on the European Commission. In the literature, the independence of the Commission is frequently questioned, while the relative autonomy of the...

Welche Folgen hat die europäische Integration für die Mitgliedstaaten? In diesem Artikel geht es mir darum zu zeigen, wie die Verflechtung mit der EU die institutionellen Handlungsoptionen nationaler Akteure verändert. Mein Ausgangspunkt ist das deutsche politische System, das aufgrund...

Analyses of European integration processes are still dominated by the dichotomous debate between intergovernmentalism and supranationalism. Sides are often taken in this debate based on very case-specific empirical findings. An analysis of two cases, European telecommunications and electricity...

The development of larger technical systems relies on the coordination of autonomous action of a multitude of individuals and organizations. Institutional settings, often neglected in the analysis of technical development, help to achieve such coordination. Our analysis of international...

Since the comparative turn in European integration research, analyses of the legislative process of the EU have taken inspiration from research on national political systems. While the consequences of the formal monopoly of initiative of the Commission are much analysed, it is only recently that...

Abstract What are the consequences of European integration for the member states? In this essay, I would like to show how the integration has changed the institutional options for action open to national actors. I start by looking at the German political system, which tends to bottleneck reform...