Mitchell P. Smith

Mitchell Smith is Associate Professor of Political Science and International and Area Studies and Co-director of the European Union Center at the University of Oklahoma. He joined the department in 1999.

STATES OF LIBERALIZATION
Redefining the Public Sector in Integrated Europe
(SUNY Series in Global Politics)
Mitchell P. Smith
SUNY Press (2005)

"As economic competition is introduced into areas formerly served by public sector monopolies, to what extent do governments lose discretion over their use of the public sector? States of Liberalization examines the impact of the European Union's rigorous single-market competition policy on the abilities of Western European governments to use the public sector to achieve political objectives. Examining several politically contentious sectors, including government purchasing of goods and services, postal services, and public sector financial institutions, Mitchell P. Smith explores and explains the scope and the limits of this transformation. While European economic integration and the application of European Community competition policy have substantially infused competition into public services, the process has been more modest, and more deliberate, than a simple reading of Europe's potent market-making mechanisms would predict." (from publisher)

"Smith's main point, that liberalization has to accommodate public sector interests, is an important antidote to the conventional view of the overriding and irreversible effects of globalization (or greater European integration)." — Nikolaos Zahariadis, author of Ambiguity and Choice in Public Policy: Political Decision Making in Modern Democracies

LEGITIMACY AND THE EUROPEAN UNION
The Contested Polity
Thomas Banchoff, Mitchell P. Smith, editors
Routledge (1999)

"This study addresses the problem of EU legitimacy, integrating existing work on the "democratic deficit" with emergent literature on the EU as a new kind of polity. It argues that existing approaches to the legitimacy crisis are rooted in statist categories that poorly fit EU reality." (from publisher)

"German and US political scientists describe how scholars are increasingly seeing the European Union not as a super-state or an organization of states, but as a multi-level, contested polity without precedent in national or federal experience. They ponder the implications of such a conceptualization for the problem of legitimacy." (Book News, Inc., Portland, OR) 

"Banchoff and Smith present readers with an edited volume that distinguishes itself on two counts: its chapters integrate theoretical concepts and empirical research in case studies that are original and timely; and the scholars' contributions to the volume provide a balance of European and American viewpoints in a dialogue that leads to fruitful inquiry. The book analyzes legitimacy through the conceptual lenses of three approaches: policies; institutional changes; and identities. As an ensemble, the chapters in this volume strengthen our understanding of the European Union as a polity unprecedented in world affairs whose decision making is characterized by multi-level governance. By assessing critical analyses made in selected chapters utilizing each approach, the reader appreciates the volume's method and scope of inquiry....

...In the book's closing chapter, Banchoff and Smith explain that the conflict surrounding the Maastricht ratification brought the centrality of European politics in national decision making to light. The search for legitimacy, however contested in a multi-level polity, may lead state leaders to take decisions that reconstruct national identities in ways to promote compatibility with the integration project. The conclusions drawn by the editors illustrate the extent to which this volume is essential reading for those interested in the European Union. Its chapters contribute significant insights to our understanding of Europe's impact within national polities, thereby enhancing our knowledge of legitimacy in the Union as its complex system of decision making evolves in the 21st century." (from review on barnesandnoble.com, March 15, 2000, by Dr. Colette Mazzucelli, Co-President, Robert Bosch Foundation Alumni Association  [RBFAA], New York City)