Comparative European Politics (CEP) arises out of a unique editorial partnership linking political scientists in Europe and North America. CEP defines its scope broadly to include the comparative politics and political economy of the whole of contemporary Europe within and beyond the European Union, the processes of European integration and enlargement and the place of Europe and European states within international/global political and economic dynamics. As the most regionally integrated political and economic space within the global system, Europe presents a particular opportunity to political scientists to explore the dynamic relationship between transnational, international and domestic processes and practices. The editors welcome original theoretical, empirical and theoretically-informed pieces which deal with these relationships. Such issues pose awkward questions about the limitations of existing disciplinary perspectives and theoretical conventions, requiring theoretical and methodological innovation and an ability to develop genuinely interdisciplinary approaches. CEP aims to publish exceptional work prepared to rise to this challenge. The journal is rigorously peer-reviewed. It neither reflects nor represents any particular school or approach, nor does it restrict itself to particular methodologies or theoretical perspectives. Rather, whilst promoting interdisciplinarity and a greater dialogue between the various sub-disciplines of European political analysis, Comparative European Politics publishes the best and most original work in the field. It publishes substantial articles marking either core empirical developments, theoretical innovation or, preferably, both. The journal particularly encourages pieces which seek to develop the link between substantive empirical investigations and theoretical elaboration and those which transcend the artificial separation of domestic, comparative and international analysis. The editors publish a limited number of debate pieces and review articles related to issues of contemporary theoretical and empirical controversy. Whether solicited or unsolicited these are exposed to the same exacting process of peer review.