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Welcome This
homepage presents my work as a political scientist based at the Vrije
Universiteit Amsterdam. My work focuses on the application
of classical insights and conceptions from political theory to contemporary
political challenges. In particular, I examine how the internationalization
of politics, and European integration in particular, challenges established
political theoretical insights. Thus, key themes in my research
are the EU democratic deficit, inter-parliamentary coordination,
accountability in international politics, EU institutional reform, and
transnational social justice. I publish on these issues in academic articles
as well as in policy reports and commentary pieces. Currently, I participate in the
EU-sponsored RECONNECT-project,
where I lead a work package on democratic principles in the EU and under what
conditions these are threatened by new populist parties. Earlier I worked at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in
Brussels, the University of Twente
and Research voor Beleid
in Leiden, a firm for policy-oriented research and consultancy. |
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Ben
Crum Department
of Political Science Vrije
Universiteit Amsterdam De Boelelaan 1081 1081 HV Amsterdam The Netherlands
Tel +31 20 5986821 Fax +31 20 5986821 |
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This volume, edited by John Erik
Fossum (ARENA/ U.Oslo) and me, provides a thorough empirical examination of
how an internationalising context drives parliamentarians to engage in
inter-parliamentary coordination and how it affects their power positions
vis-à-vis executive actors, among themselves, and in society in general.
Building upon these empirical insights, the book assesses whether
parliamentary democracy can remain sustainable under these changing
conditions. Indeed, if parliaments are, and remain, central to our
understanding of modern democracy, it is of crucial importance to track their
responses to internationalisation, the fragmentation of political
sovereignty, and the proliferation of multilevel politics. |
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In 2012, my book Learning from
the EU Constitutional Treaty came out with Routledge. This research monograph provides a
comprehensive analysis of the making of the Constitutional Treaty and the
subsequent Treaty of Lisbon. It uses this analysis to develop an original
political theory of democratic constitutionalization beyond the nation-state,
which maintains that international organizations can be put on democratic
foundations, but only by properly engaging national political structures. For a summary of the main
argument, see my
post for The EUDO Café. Reviews succeeds
in blending normative and empirical insights in a manner that will make it an
indispensable reference on the EU's constitutional debates of the past decade
– and a worthwhile point of departure for those (inevitably) yet to come. Robert Harmsen in
the Journal of Common Market Studies provides
a good reconstruction of the EU’s journey towards increased legitimacy and
makes a highly original contribution to the normative debate on the
post-governmental legitimacy of the EU. |
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Recent Academic publications |
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with L. Kinski,
‘Transnational
Representation in EU National Parliaments’, Online first in Political Studies (2019). |
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with T. Palm, Military operations and
the EU’s identity as an international security actor. European Security (2019), 28(4),
513-534. |
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‘Parliamentary
accountability in multilevel governance: What role for parliaments in
post-crisis EU economic governance?’, Journal
of European Public Policy 25(2) (2018): 268-86. |
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Recent Commentaries and blogs |
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with L. Kinski,
‘Transnational
Representation – How members of national parliaments in the European Union
also speak for other EU nationals’, PSA Blog, 13 June 2019. |
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‘De
onzichtbare macht van het Europees Parlement’, Helling (2019) 32(1): 16-21. |
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with A. Oleart,
and P. Overeem, ‘ Three
Cautionary Notes on the Identification of Democratic Backsliding (and
Democratic Renewal)’, RECONNECT Blog, 2 April 2019. |
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‘Making
Democracy a Priority in EU Economic Governance: Four theses on the
foundations of the T-DEM project (Piketty et al.)’, European Papers (2018) 3(1): 59-65. |
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Video |
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EU Parliamentarism as a
“Multilevel Parliamentary Field”, presentation at the PADEMIA-Workshop on
‘Multilevel Democracy’, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam/ACCESS EUROPE, 30 and 31
October 2014. |
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‘The
Democratic Dilemma of Monetary Union’, presentation at the 2012 EUDO
Dissemination Conference ‘The Euro Crisis and the State of European
Democracy’, European University Institute, Florence, 22 and 23 November 2012. |
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Audio |
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BNR Nieuwsradio, 14/7/2015: 10u34 |
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NPO Radio 1, 13/7/2015: 11u21 |
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NPO
Radio 1, 8/5/2015: 11u21 |
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Griekse
hervormingsplannen voor verlenging Europese leningen |
NPO
Radio 1, 24/2/2015: 8u10 |
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Europese
onderhandelingen over nieuwe lening voor Griekenland |
NPO
Radio 1, 19/2/2015: 17u45 |
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NPO
Radio 1, 30/9/2014: 8u10 |
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[In Dutch] On the British threat
to hold a referendum on EU membership conditions, BNR
Nieuwsradio 10 July 2012. |
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