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What lessons can be drawn from the failure of the “Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe” to gain legitimacy? The introductory chapter presents the analytical framework, empirical data and methods employed by an international research team at the University of Bremen to explore this question. First, it sets out the framework used in this study to examine the patterns and dynamics of political conflict on European integration in the context of EU constitutional politics. Second, it describes the construction of the empirical data set which includes 7.378 articles from 31 print media, all of which cover the political debates in six new and old member states during Constitutional Treaty ratification, rejection and reflection (Oct. 2004 – Oct. 2005). Third, methodologically speaking, it outlines the quantitative and qualitative methods of political discourse analysis that reflect a special focus on argumentation and justification, transnational discursive interaction, and inclusion/exclusion. Finally, a number of comparative findings are highlighted that correct popular misconceptions about why the TCE failed and help to determine to what degree not the text or context of the constitutional project but the process is to blame for this.

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