Ezra Suleiman, born in Basra, Iraq, in 1941. Ph.D. from Columbia University, New York City. IBM Professor of International Studies and Professor of Politics at Princeton University.
Fellow (1 September 2004 – 31 January 2005)
GOVERNANCE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE “DEMOGRAPHIC DEFICIT”
The three-month period I spent at NIAS (December 2004-February 2005) allowed me to complete the second phase of my project (completion of the questionnaire) and launch the third phase which involved the field work. During this period I was able to begin the interviewing of some 200 senior officials who run the European Commission. The interviews have now been completed and the data is currently being analysed. I collected a massive out of data through the interviews and I am hopeful that will enable me to expand on our knowledge of the governance of the European Commission.
I should mention that the most important aspect of my stay at NIAS was not just the progress I was able to make on the project but the reorientation of the project itself. The work took on a more ambitious dimension. The issue that will form the basis of the forthcoming book will be not so much about the EU Commission but about the nature of transnational organisations. The EU Commission will constitute the case study for this larger issue. My work at NIAS allowed me to rethink and reorient my research to a more general ‘problematique’.