The concept of political integration: the perspectives of neofunctionalist theory

Abstract

This paper is qualitative research of the concept of political integration. It represents case study of the concept of political integration appearing in the theory of neofunctionalism. The research focus could be identified with the concept of political integration, in the perspective of the theory of neofunctionalism. The purpose of this research paper is the cognition of a various types of the concept of political integration and its activating, from the perspectives of neofunctionalism. In the scope of this paper, for the purpose of the research, content analysis method and comparative method are used. Also, a special accent is laid on the terms of integration in a political sense, the term of political integration as a part of this broader one and the concept of spill-over effect. Within the concept of political integration, it could be understood various types of political integration. In parallel, the concept of spill-over effect is examined as concept with a huge role in the theory of neofunctionalism. The synthesis of the two mentioned concepts, the one of political integration and the one of spill-over effect, would answer the question of the activating the process of political integration, and its potential dependence of existing other types of integration in a political sense.