Political Cultures and European Integration

The project analyses the impact of the diversity of cultural identities and political attitudes on European integration. In a moment of decisive thrust towards political integration, the diversity of Europe appears as a crucial factor, with national cultures and political attitudes coming together in a forming system. The project focuses on several dimensions of cultural diversity, such as 1) ethnicity, language, religion, 2) the role of nation-states in creating identities and styles of participation, 3) state traditions and citizenship, 4) traditions of self-government and 'civicness'. The project evaluates the impact of cultural diversity on the type of integration: 1) the institutional architecture of the EU; 2) cleavage constellations and party system; 3) identity formation. The project is comparative and covers EU member-states (including the new Central and East European countries).