Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Political Science

Committee Chair

Donley T. Studlar

Committee Co-Chair

Robert Blobaum

Committee Member

Robert D. Duval

Committee Member

Joe D. Hagan

Committee Member

Karleen A. West

Abstract

This dissertation is intended to shows how federalism can be a useful theoretical tool to conceptualize the overall evolution of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) from its inception to the current attempts (as of April 2014) to tackle the financial crisis that has affected the Eurozone since 2010. The topic is important because no detailed studies are yet available using a federalist focus on EMU. This research, therefore, is aimed to fill a gap in the literature currently approaching economic and monetary integration.;The dissertation draws on the assumptions found in the current mainstream literature on European integration. In this regard, monetary union has been already analyzed from different theoretical perspectives, such as neo-functionalism, Multi-Level Governance, Europeanization, intergovernmentalism, and domestic politics theory. Such theories sometimes conflict with each other and sometimes partially overlap, but all have some weaknesses. On the contrary, I believe that applying federalism to EMU encompasses other contending approaches in one theoretical focus, providing a parsimonious, structural, and multilayered explanation able to elucidate the overall EMU evolution.;Analyzing "how" EMU has been politically developed, EMU policies have been implemented, and EMU polity has changed over the decades, my main hypothesis is that the incremental writing of the "rules of the game" has been made possible by the European Council through horizontal federalism ("the method"). Horizontal federalism has almost always strengthened EC/EU institutions and targeted the vertical centralization of economic and monetary affairs ("the outcome"). As such, horizontal and vertical federalism elicited an incremental and steady federalization of EMU ("the process") that is lasting from the 1950s to nowadays.;Concerning the methodology, in order to demonstrate the validity of my hypothesis, I utilize two interconnected qualitative methods: process tracing is the basis of the narration of the empirical process pertaining to the EMU, while structured focused comparison will allow me to compare the various integration theories identified above, including federalism, using EMU as the case study. These methods follow primary research consisting of a collection of original data, analysis of official documents and original reports on EMU, and unstructured interviews were conducted with technocrats, scholars, diplomats, and policy-makers.

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