Theorizing Europeanization in Central and Eastern Europe
Theorizing Europeanization in Central and Eastern Europe

Summary/Abstract: The most salient theoretical cleavage in contemporary literature in International Realtions on institutions and on the EU is a rational/constructivist (or sociological) dichotomy. Both, rational choice theorists and constructivists agree that "institutions matter" in the sense of exerting an independent causal influence in the social real, but they differ in their arguements about "how institutions matter". While many scholars recognize possible complementarities between rational choice and constructivist institutionalist variants, the "metatheoretical" debate about institutions often hampers the theoretical, methodological and empirical dialogue. In her essay, the author seeks to integrate insights from both rational choice and social constructivism in order to understand the effects of international factors, in particular, the EU on domestic structures of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

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