Europe's crisis of legitimacy: Governing by rules and ruling by numbers in the eurozone. By Vivien A.Schmidt, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2020. pp. 385. USD 35.99 (paperback). ISBN: 9780198797050
本书深入分析了欧盟在欧元区危机中的治理过程，提出“通过合法性”概念，解释规则与数字统治如何导致合法性危机，并探讨了制度演变与民粹主义挑战。
In her book Europe's Crisis of Legitimacy: Governing by Rules and Ruling by Numbers, Vivien Schmidt brings together an in-depth conceptualization of legitimacy alongside a backstage analysis of EU governance.In line with Schmidt's previous work on legitimacy, the core added value of this book is her analysis of throughput legitimacy.While including input legitimacy-government by the people and output legitimacy-government for the people-Schmidt focuses on evaluating government with the people (throughput legitimacy) to unravel the black box of EU governance processes in the context of the eurozone crisis.The book emerged from Schmidt's research fellowship on legitimacy on the eurozone crisis at the Commission (with the Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs).With an emic view and her use of discursive institutionalism, Schmidt walks us through the myriad corridors of EU governance, taking us on a journey of how the Council, the Commission, the European Central Bank, and the European Parliament evolved away from economic orthodoxy and rigid "governing by rules and ruling by numbers," and instead toward increased discretion.Using ideas and discourse in her political analysis, Schmidt shows us the complexities behind multi-level governance, where at the EU level "policy with politics" clashed with resistance at the Member State level where "politics against policy" predominated against the backdrop of rising public discontent.This challenge of legitimacy is in part by EU governance design, where Schmidt identifies a split-level legitimacy: input (political) legitimacy rests at the Member State level whereas throughput (procedural) and output (performance) legitimacy exist at the EU level.The initial "governing by rules and ruling by numbers" led to the "legitimacy crisis" that, she argues, triggered politicization at the EU level, where "policy without politics" had previously predominated.The EU institutional actors (at least partly) redeemed themselves by reinterpreting the rules, according to Schmidt.To explain this, Schmidt draws on the core explanatory variable-throughput legitimacy-and hones in on the quality of institutional processes and practices.Through the in-depth analysis of institutions, Schmidt explains how the politicization that came along with the crisis had different effects on EU legitimacy.She explains a general shift from authoritarian ruling focused on economics in times of austerity toward increased flexibility and social (justice) aspects.This shift in EU policy initially occurred "by stealth" according to Schmidt, which led to massive challenges for legitimacy.However, the shift improved outcomes in some, but not all, Member States.What is more, the loss of political control at the national level has triggered a populist challenge against liberal democracy.Schmidt's intricate analysis of anti-system populism and a general trend toward the hollowing out of the state (Jessop, 2013) is alarming and timely.The trend toward less state in the context of neoliberalism goes handin-hand with increasing flexibilization of EU governance processes that Schmidt describes.Along with decentralization, Schmidt sees this trend as the "best" response to Member States' anti-EU politicization.However, "deeper integration" with increased national differentiation and decentralization remains impeded by the entrenched