The Europeanization of Interest Groups in Malta and Ireland: A Small State Perspective
Mario Thomas Vassallo
Palgrave Macmillan
320 pages
The most recognisable and researched impact of Europeanisation is upon government structures, processes and policies. However the study of its effects on domestic interest groups is still in its infancy. Mario Thomas Vassallo’s new publication addresses this gap in academic literature by examining the extent to which interest groups in Malta and Ireland are being exposed and influenced by European incentives, values and style of governance. This comparative research embraces both quantitative and qualitative data streams and is ideal for students studying politics, society and the EU. The publication can also be of direct interest to policy practitioners, NGO leaders, social partners, politicians and academics.
European exposure is not only investigated in terms of engagement with the EU’s multi-tier institutional design, but more fundamentally, it is analysed in its ability to reshape domestic structures, politics and mindsets of active citizens organised in different sorts of group formations. The investigation is rooted in the theoretical framework of new institutionalism which is well equipped in providing answers as to which enablers of change are at play in Europeanising domestic interest groups. To this effect, the major aim of the book is twofold: to measure the extent of Europeanisation and to decipher its typology. In particular it seeks to determine whether marginal or significant Europeanisation has taken place and whether this can be explained through rationalist or sociological logics of adaptation or a combination of the two.
Research primacy rests on the role and character of interest groups involved in domestic policy-making and their interplay with governmental actors, as well as their participation in EU governance. Findings confirm that trade unions, employers’ organisations, social and human rights movements as well as environmental groups in both Malta and Ireland are undergoing a process of domestic change, yet their gradual transformation is being marshalled by differing speeds and logics of Europeanisation. Apart from its special attention dedicated to small states and domestic active citizenship, this publication sets out an innovative statistical model to quantify the familiar elements of Europeanisation. This model shapes the way for future research projects on Europeanisation that will try to encapsulate its magnitude quantitatively.
The author is a resident academic at the Department of Public Policy, Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy.
Further information is available online.