Media type: E-Article Title: Making Sense of the EU: Competing Goals, Conflicting Perspectives Contributor: Plattner, Marc F. Published: Project MUSE, 2003 Published in: Journal of Democracy, 14 (2003) 4, Seite 42-56 Language: English DOI: 10.1353/jod.2003.0086 ISSN: 1086-3214 Keywords: Sociology and Political Science Origination: Footnote: Description: <jats:p xml:lang="en">Abstract: Although in many ways the European Union has been remarkably successful, it is a profoundly ambiguous creation Competing interpretations view it as an essentially intergovernmental organization that remains a creature of its member state; as the germ of an emerging federal state; as some kind of middle ground between these two; or as a novel kind of political entity that is variously characterized as a âpostmodern,â âneomedieval,â âpost-state,â or ânonstateâ polity. It has been able to advance despite this ambiguity, but with EU enlargement and the drafting of a Constitutional Treaty by a European Convention chaired by Valéry Giscard dâEstaing, it will face new challenges. A key question is whether the EUâor any international organizationâcan succeed in democratizing itself without becoming a state.</jats:p>