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Recent reform agendas have emphasised a perceived need to bring the European Union (EU) institutions and the citizens of the member states and closer together, as a means of enhancing the legitimacy of EU governance. The debate on the future of the EU, the initiative which led to the signing of the constitutional treaty in October 2004, addressed the challenge of 'bringing closer' by incorporating civil society in to the treaty reform process. In this thesis I investigate the role played by transnational civil society organisations in helping to bring citizens and institutions closer together. I employ the notion of democratic linkage to describe and explain the downward-facing interactions between civil society organisations and ordinary citizens, which have sometimes been neglected, as well as their upward-facing interactions with elite decision-makers. Drawing upon data from qualitative interviews with 25 civil society organisations and six officials from various EU institutions I find serious discrepancies between the rhetoric of the EU institutions on bringing citizens closer, and the capacities and willingness of the civil society actors involved as well as the opportunities for doing so.

This thesis provides a study of the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from Ireland, Greece and Cyprus and their use of Social Media Platforms (SMPs). Specifically, the thesis explores MEPs’ motivations for online engagement and the strategies they apply through their social media accounts. The MEPs face a growing demand for approachability and responsiveness within an expanding framework of disconnection and Euroscepticism. The objective is to determine whether they engage online to embrace citizens’ inclusion and the bridging of the democratic gaps which have been exacerbated by the recent crises or whether they focus more on exploiting the promotional advantages of SMPs to enhance their political brand. Central to the thesis purpose is to collect and interpret the perceptions of the MEPs about the functions of accountability, policy discussion and branding. The collection and analysis of data from semi-structured interviews with the MEPs and the qualitative analysis of content from their social media accounts revealed a series of accountability, policy discussion and branding motivations and strategies. These in combination with the post-crisis social media landscape, determine the types, volume and quality of the interactions that MEPs from crisis-inflicted states pursue online during routine (non- campaigning) timeframes. The contribution of the thesis is that it approaches a contemporary phenomenon from an overlooked angle, i.e. how European representatives perceive and prioritise the parameters of online interaction and how this affects the engagement with constituents. Approaching the online activities of the MEPs from a non-traditional theory of representation becomes the key to accommodate their branding incentives and understand and acknowledge their particularities as supranational representatives. This also contributes to outlining an area of theoretical interest where the profiling of representational brands and the use of descriptive features find their place within a participatory framework which surpasses the sanction/reward scheme of the electoral mandate.

This thesis has two interrelated aims, both of which reflect my interest in the development of a variety of supra-national organisations since 1945 and the possibility that a new system of global soft governance may be emerging. The first is to fill a gap in the literature created by scholarly neglect of one of the most important of these supra-national bodies, viz. the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The method adopted partly involves archival research and partly elite interviews with fifteen of the twenty original OECD member states. The second aim is more theoretical. It consists of relating my research on the OECD to the development at global level of what some scholars have termed a novel system of soft governance. What characterizes soft governance is the gradual establishment by international organisations like the OECD of a relative degree of autonomy in their relations with the larger states with which they interact. My findings suggest that the this autonomy has transformed the OECD from a purely economic tool of large states into an institution enjoying a degree of independence as an expert adviser on issues of technology and development; as a moral educator on issues of social reform; and as a locus for diplomatic activity. Although soft governance is fragile, my research points to the emergence of a wholly unplanned normative framework for interaction which alleviates the uncertainties of a post-Westphalian international order. Particular attention has been devoted to Turkey, one of the original OECD members, since the Turkish case illustrates the great change in the global role of the OECD from being merely an American creation for implementing the Marshall Plan to a relatively autonomous international institution possessing a moral authority capable of transcending in some degree national economic, political, and cultural diversity.

This thesis provides a study of United Kingdom (UK) macroeconomic policy and economic ideas. Specifically, the thesis seeks to explore the reasons when and why UK macroeconomic policy and economic ideas exhibits change or continuity. The central contention of this thesis is that the model of punctuated equilibrium provides a flawed understanding and explanation of when and why policies and idea exhibit continuity and change in UK macroeconomic policymaking. In particular, the thesis seeks to fill two gaps in our existing knowledge of UK economic policymaking, which emerge from critical literature reviews. The first gap pertains to the need for greater specificity in our understanding and definition of orthodox UK macroeconomic policy. The second gap relates to the need for a superior understanding of when and why UK macroeconomic policy and economic ideas exhibits change and continuity. The original contribution of this thesis to the literature on UK economic policymaking arises from the two research findings generated in Chapters Three and Four, which are then tested in a series of case-study chapters in the second half of the thesis. The first research finding is the provision of greater precision in our understanding and definition of orthodox macroeconomic policy. The second research finding is the identification of a historical pattern in UK macroeconomic policymaking, which is named the orthodox cycle. The orthodox cycle utilises the new understanding and definition of orthodox macroeconomic policy to show the continuity of orthodox policy and ideas in UK macroeconomic policymaking, through a series of distinct phases, in the aftermath of crises and changes in government.

This research focuses on the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) on social inclusion over a period of ten years. It analyses the participation of people who experience poverty and/or social exclusion and anti-poverty associations in the OMC. The main objective is to explore whether such participation triggers the redirection of participants’ expectations, political activities and loyalties from the national to the EU level. The research focuses on participation at domestic and EU level. It identifies the core responses (or non-responses) of British and Greek governmental and non-governmental actors to the EU pressures for participation. National responses to EU pressures help understand the participation of the above mentioned stakeholders in the domestic policy-making process. Additionally, by focusing on the participation of British and Greek delegates to the European Meetings of People Experiencing Poverty, this research seeks to understand whether participation through the OMC, at EU level, influences expectations, political activities and loyalties. The empirical findings of the research show that participation in the OMC indeed influences redirection of expectations, political activities and loyalties. However, the differences between the UK and Greece, and the differences between participation domestically and at EU level were found to be significant. This research contributes to existing theory by analysing the effects of participation of wider numbers of citizens in EU processes. It addresses the lack of empirical data regarding the participation of non-traditional stakeholders.