Conceptualizing the European Union Through Four Strategies of Comparison

In this article, I examine the oft-cited claim to the effect that the EU is an entity sui generis, that is, a distinct and unique polity. This entails that it qua polity represents a departure from the nation-state model. Those debating the EU's uniqueness are not always clear on this. Neither is there agreement on the EU's uniqueness. Some talk of the EU as a departure from the nation-state; others as part of a more general state withering or transnationalization; others couch it as a case of nation-state transformation; others see it as a subset of the Member State; and others again as a fledgling state. The debate is implicitly comparative but lacking a systematic assessment of comparison's possible contribution to establishing the distinctive character of the EU. This article proposes a comparative framework with four strategies of comparison, so as to yield a more systematic assessment. The application of this framework to the EU produces several new and un-explored venues, as well as provides us with a clearer sense of the merits of comparison and of ways of comparing. The article concludes with suggestions for how the four comparative strategies can best be combined so as to clarify the EU's uniqueness as polity.