Democracy and the European Union

by Andreas Follesdal (Editor), Peter Koslowski (Editor)

Overview

The European Union is a new subject for theories of legitimacy, posing fundamental questions to the established concepts and principles of democratic theory. General compliance and popular acceptance and respect for European law is at stake. The volume addresses the main challenges of the European Union to democratic theory. The legitimacy of such transnational institutions born by political integration has so far received some but scant attention. The mere existence of the Union proves that the sovereign state cannot remain the sole focus of normative reflection. Indeed, the very conception of sovereignty is at stake. The present volume combines political science and normative political theory to offer concepts, arguments and criteria that further these debates, addressing problems of principle.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783642083334
Publisher:	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publication date:	12/08/2010
Series:	Ethical Economy
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1998
Pages:	309
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.24(d)

Table of Contents

Democracy and the European Union: Challenges.- A EU Institutions.- 1 Is it Really Possible to Democratize the Euro-Polity?.- 2 Democracy and Governance in the European Union.- 3 Democratic Legitimacy and the Role of the Commission.- 4 The EU Intergovernmental Conference 1996/97: The Moment of Constitutional Choice for a Democratic Europe?.- 5 Double Asymmetry as Normative Challenge.- B Historical and Comparative Perspectives.- 6 Democracy in Multicultural Societies and Multinational Settings.- 7 How to Create Supra-National Institutions Democratically. Some Reflections on the European Union’s ‘Democratic Deficit’.- C Political Theory for the European Union.- 8 The Problem of Autonomy and Democracy in a Complex Polity: the European Union.- 9 Individuality and the EU Project.- 10 Fatherland Europe? On European and National Identity and Democratic Sovereignty.- 11 Democracy and Federalism in the European Union.- 12 The Normative Challenge of a European Polity: Cosmopolitan and Communitarian Models Compared, Criticised and Combined.- D Conclusion.- 13 Should the European Union Become More Democratic?.- List of Authors.- Index of Names.