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The Missing Link in EU Democracy?

This article discusses the democratic deficit in the European Union, particularly the absence of a European public sphere. It explores the complexity of the EU political system, the influence of member states, and the need for institutional reform. The article also examines the importance of a transnational public sphere in fostering democratic deliberation and decision-making. It concludes by highlighting the need to strengthen debate across borders.

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The Missing Link in EU Democracy?

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  1. The Missing Link in EU Democracy? Dr. Maximilian Conrad Faculty of Political Science, University of Iceland 3 September 2010

  2. Overview • Introduction: An Institutional Democratic Deficit • The Missing Link: the presumed absence of a European public sphere • Is there a European public sphere – and if so, how many?

  3. 1. An Institutional Democratic Deficit Is there a democratic deficit in the EU? Short answer: of course there is – there can always be more democracy!

  4. “Democracy is […] an ideal in the only intelligible sense of an ideal: namely, the tendency and movement of some thing which exists carried to its final limit, viewed as completed, perfected. Since things do not attain such fulfillment but are in actuality distracted and interfered with, democracy in this sense is not a fact and never will be.” • John Dewey, • The Public and its Problems (1927)

  5. “The cure for the ailments of democracy is more democracy. The prime difficulty […] is that of discovering the means by which a scattered, mobile and manifold public may so recognize itself as to define and express its interests.” - John Dewey, The Public and its Problems (1927)

  6. 1. An Institutional Democratic Deficit

  7. What’s undemocratic about the EU? • an enormously complex and complicated political system; difficult to understand • European Commission: not a government, but a government nonetheless? • European Parliament: parliament or travelling circus? • what happens behind the Council’s closed doors? • how are citizens to influence decisions without understanding the processes?

  8. A home-made problem • who’s to blame? The member states! • EU political system: a complex compromise between 27 member states – strong vs. weak union – a hybrid • necessary distinction: “intergovernmental democracy” vs. “supranational democracy” • institutional reform: could be a cure, but depends on where democracy ought to be exercised

  9. How to reform the institutions? A stronger union: “Supranational democracy” • more democracy beyond the nation-state • stronger role of the European citizens • stronger EU institutions, foremost a stronger EP • clarify where decisions are to be made: in the EU, in the nation-state, or below? A weaker union: “Intergovernmental democracy” • nation-state: the natural home of democracy • stronger national parliaments • no more power to the EP • “delegated democracy”: EU in the realm of international politics;

  10. Fixing the institutional democratic deficit is about as likely as agreeing on how supranational (or intergovernmental) the Union is to become.

  11. 2. The Missing Link:The Public Sphere Deficit

  12. Barking up the wrong tree? • the democratic deficit: fundamentally also a deficit in debate across borders – a public sphere deficit • democracy: “can’t wait for election day…” – or something more than that? • deliberation matters

  13. The Public Sphere Deficit • democracy: the interplay between the political system and the public sphere • purpose: addressees of the law have to consider themselves also the authors of the law • public sphere provides a link between rulers and the ruled – creates communicative power

  14. A Concrete Example: “Stuttgart 21”

  15. Reactions to Stuttgart 21

  16. Communicative Power • legitimacy: stems from elections, but also from public debate – legislation has to win the approval of the citizens • need for convincing arguments • the public sphere has no administrative power, but the political system is dependent on approval from the public sphere

  17. The nation-state public sphere • public sphere: communicative forums, usually congruent with the territory of the nation-state • role of the mass media: organized on a national basis, catering to the needs of national audiences • a necessary congruence: communicative power has to emerge where decisions are taken – has a corrective function

  18. A European public sphere? • difficult to imagine one uniform European public sphere – and undesirable! • but: domestic media can play a key role in constituting a transnational public sphere • EPS: same issues, same time, same criteria of relevance – and collective affectedness • why should Europeans speak to one another?

  19. The Community Deficit • community precondition for public spheres: overplayed – collective identity matters less than orientations on European integration • study on Swedish and German opinion-making journalists: cleavages are ideological, not national!

  20. Conclusions • the democratic deficit: a broad topic indeed! • reform of the institutions: only one side of the coin – but dependent on settling fundamental questions on EU democracy first • more importantly: how to strengthen debate across borders?

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