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9 Eur. L.J. 1 (2003)

handle is hein.journals/eurlj9 and id is 1 raw text is: European Law Journal, Vol. 9, No. 1, February 2003, pp. 1-13. ( Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2003, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA Editorial: Evolving Norms of Constitutionalism Antje Wiener' Abstract: Constitutionalism offers an academically constructed framework that allows us to assess processes of constitutional change in their respective societal contexts. This article offers insights into different perspectives within the debate over 'European' constitutionalism and their potential consequences. It makes the point for a societal approach to assess the emergence and role of both, constitutional and sociocultural norms, pointing to the key role ofsocial practices in this process. It proposes an approach to constitutionalism which elaborates on a shift of analytical focus from the 'type of polity' towards 'social practices' as key to evolving, interpreting, and implementing norms. It is argued that this choice of perspective matters. It has implications for subsequent moves including the selection of case studies and methodology. The distinct analytical choices are presented as four positions of constitutional choice. I Introduction2 The oft-mentioned perspective on the European Union (EU) as a polity that finds itself in a continuous process of becoming leaves academics and politicians alike appearing to constantly act or argue 'as if' the EU were an international organisation or a state. This take on the EU notwithstanding everybody is perfectly clear about the constraint entailed in the EU's status as both 'anti-state and near-state'.3 After all, while not necessarily or conceptually related to nation-states, 'usually, talk about constitution or the constitution means the constitution of a state as the basic order and Reader and Jean Monnet Chair (Political Science), Institute of European Studies, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast BT7 INN, Northern Ireland, email: a.wiener@qub.ac.uk. 2 This article draws upon several years of joint work on the topic with Jo Shaw for which funding has been received from the British Council and the German Academic Exchange Service's Academic Research Collaboration Programme (ARC) Grant #1088 (1999-2000) as well as from the University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) in the UK (2000-2002). The work presented in this special issue builds on a number of workshops which brought together an interdisciplinary and international scholarly community under the umbrella of a two-year study group on the topic for which financial support from UACES, Queen's University Belfast, the University of Leeds, as well as the European Commission is gratefully acknowledged. The editors would also like to thank the workshop participants and members of the UACES study group as well as the German partners, especially Ingolf Pernice and U. K. Preuss who were central to beginning this project. I gratefully acknowledge financial support by two British Academy Small Research Grants # SG-34628 and # SG-31867, as well as a Social and Legal Studies Association Small Research Grant. See Shaw, J. and A. Wiener, The Paradox of the 'European' Polity, NYU Law School Jean Monnet Working Papers, 10/99, (1999), http://www.jeamnonnetprogram.org/papers/99/991001.html

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