Italy in the European Union

A fine collection of scholarship, well grounded in empirical reality. It clarifies important questions about Italian public policy and adds to our understanding of European integration without getting lost in its more sterile theoretical corners. -- David Hine, Oxford University
This edited collection by Fabbrini and Piattoni provides us with an excellent contribution to the comparative politics and European studies literature. Focusing on the neglected role of Italy in Europeanization, and illustrated by case studies in areas of political economy, diplomacy and security, and social welfare, the authors assess arguments about state influence and preferences in shaping European governance. At the same time, by highlighting the heterogeneity of Italian influence in shaping European policymaking, and by illustrating how much Italian influence is constrained by larger institutional and political factors, the book provides key insights into the offensive and defensive solutions that Italy has used to shape market rules, promote valued national ideas, and foster public support for the European project. -- Michelle Egan, American University
Italy in the European Union, coedited by Sergio Fabbrini and Simona Piattoni, is an important book and is especially noteworthy in two ways. First, the editors and authors consistently dispel the myth that Italy "punches under its weight" in the EU. Indeed, they convincingly attack the twin metaphors of "giant" versus "pygmy" as metaphorically misleading and lacking in analytical leverage. Second, their task is not so much to show that Italy is a major player as it is to shift the terms of debate to ask about the conditions under which specific actors (national, supranational, transnational) exert influence. This shift of focus implies that influence is not always or even usually best understood at the level of the member state. The editors and contributors move the discussion forward by elaborating several levels of analysis (not the conventional Waltzian ones) and substituting the pliable concept of policy preference for the blunt notion of an undifferentiated national interest. They are able to show that certain Italian policy actors, working within well-specified institutional contexts, are able to exert influence (or not) in accordance with theoretically predictable characteristics of these sectors, their institutional contexts, and the strategies and cognitive repertoires of the actors. This is an important book, for both its empirical and theoretical contributions. -- James A. Caporaso, University of Washington