Description: ′This volume is one to which anyone trying to make sense of the European Union of the early 21st century will return again and again. A terrific line-up that combines diverse talents from North America and Europe. Few books of this kind could live up to the billing "definitive benchmark, but this one certainly does" - John Peterson, University of Edinburgh
Brief description: Mark A. Pollack is Professor and Jean Monnet Chair in the Department of Political Science at Temple University, where he teaches classes in international relations, international law, and European Union Politics. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1995, and has previously taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. His research agenda focuses on the promise and limits of international cooperation, with special attention to the European Union, the delegation of powers to supranational organizations, the politics of international law, and transatlantic relations between the United States and the European Union. Prof. Pollack is the author of two books: The Engines of European Integration: Delegation, Agency and Agenda Setting in the European Union (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), and, with Gregory C. Shaffer, When Cooperation Fails: The International Law and Politics of Genetically Modified Foods (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009). He is also the editor or co-editor of six books, including most recently The Handbook of European Union Politics (with Knud Erik Jorgensen and Ben Rosamond, New York: Sage Publications 2009), and Policy-Making in the European Union, 6th edition (with Helen and William Wallace, New York: Oxford University Press 2010), as well as several dozen journal articles and book chapters. Prof. Pollack was designated by the European Union as Jean Monnet Chair in 2009, and he serves as co-director of the Penn-Temple European Studies Colloquium. He is currently working, with Prof. Jeffrey Dunoff of Temple Law School, on an edited volume, International Law and International Relations, to be published by Cambridge University Press in 2012.
Review Quotes: Overall, the Handbook of European Union Politics is a most useful book that can be highly recommended. A strong analytical framework coupled with unparalleled coverage of the major issues of the political science research of the EU makes this volume a formidable tool for teaching and a significant input to new scholarly research. It is both relatively sophisticated and very accessible to graduate students and advanced researchers. The clear writing style and the richness of information presented will certainly make this book interesting for non-academic readers.
IGOR VIDACAK
Institute for International Relations, Zagreb