THEORIES OF INTEGRATION AND THE INTEGRATION OF THE EUROPEAN DATABASE

The purpose of this article is to examine the imperatives regarding the integration of the European database that stem from theories of political integration. Specifically, it seeks to determine what might be learned about the European integration process if a fully integrated public opinion database were available and what a research agenda on European integration indicates should be borne in mind in designing the integrated database. The article begins with what theory tells us about the nation-state and its role in integration and in the internationalization of governance. Secondly, it examines the role of public opinion in theories of integration. In dealing with both of these themes, the article emphasizes the importance of the revisionist neo-functionalism of the late 1960s, of theories of the obstinacy of the nation-state, theories of nationalism and disintegration and recent international relations theory. It then applies the general lessons drawn from these considerations to three specific areas: integration and the policy agenda, integration and democracy and integration and political identity. It concludes that integrating the European database would contribute significantly to understanding the European integration process itself.