An Institutional Decay Analysis of European Integration and the Case of Brexit

Abstract

This research examines the challenges that the European integration project presently faces and discusses the theoretical and empirical factors that have influenced the context of Britain’s vote to exit the European Union (EU), known as Brexit. Accordingly, the research argues that the EU is empowered by clout related to authority, laws, and democracy, alongside the established counterpart institutions of member states, but the polity is contested due to a persistently uncharacteristic structural identity, problematic democratic legitimacy, and questioned relevance and efficacy. Consequently, the EU is challenged by Euroskepticism and distressed relations with member states, and it appears vulnerable to the influences emanating from the domestic politics of member states. This analysis posits that the Brexit referendum was the outcome of the interaction between the theoretical and empirical milieu of the EU and national events pertaining to the British party system and electoral politics due to institutional decay at the supranational and national levels. While this research does not predict the imminent collapse of the EU any time soon, the advent of Brexit, the conditions that triggered it, and the discourse used by its proponents are also present in several member states that warrant concern for the future of the EU.