Europeanization Research: Current Issues and Perspectives

Abstract

Europeanization Research is a dynamic area of political sciences both
internationally and in the Czech Republic. However, despite the popularity
of the concept and the still-growing number of conference papers, articles
and books devoted to its various aspects, there are several gaps and
shortcomings regarding its conceptualization and methodology of
theoretical as well as empirical Europeanization studies. The aim of the
paper is to present an overview of the most important theoretical issues
surrounding Europeanization Research, including the definition of the term
and the danger of concept stretching, the question of causality and various
explanations of Europeanization mechanisms with a special emphasis on
the identification of their weak points. Simultaneously, it aims to evaluate
the current state of Czech Europeanization research with several
recommendations for developing it further.