Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies
Finland
fellow
William King
Home institution
German Historical Institute London
Country of origin (home institution)
United Kingdom
Discipline(s)
Contemporary history
Theme(s)
Cities & States
Democracy, Citizenship, Governance
Fellowship dates
›
Biography
William King is a Core Fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies (HCAS), University of Helsinki. His current research examines the history of European integration. Prior to joining the HCAS, William was a Research Fellow at the German Historical Institute London, and before that a Teaching Fellow in History at Sciences Po (Reims). William holds an MPhil in Historical Studies from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in International History from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
Research Project
The European Parliament, Democracy, and Citizens, 1973–89
Throughout the history of European integration, democratic representation and practices have been an ongoing source of contention and, for some, of condemnation. William King’s project analyses and explores the historic nature of public-political interactions between citizens, who critics allege have been isolated and uninvolved, and their representatives in the European Parliament. In exploring this topic, the project addresses shortcomings in existing literature. It challenges studies that unduly emphasise a post-Maastricht turning point, and it seeks to show that democratic representation was not a fixed or a set process but one which changed over time, and that any focus on elections as the exclusive indicator of democratic participation is but only one part of the picture. The project seeks to reveal that a plurality of views and forms of contact, among citizens and their representatives, were a core feature of the history of European integration.
Research Interests:
European Integration, political history, democracy