This book discusses the causes and nature of political differentiation in Europe. It deals with the normative problem of differentiated integration, both in its vertical and horizontal dimensions, and addresses the problem of differentiation through a theory of democratic autonomy and dominance. A politically differentiated EU could deprive people of their right to co-determine common affairs and have adverse effects for democratic self-rule. It could also take away the people’s ability to influence political decisions that they are ultimately affected by. This book argues that differentiation is not an innocent instrument for handling conflicts in interconnected contexts. The consequences of what might be a benign plea for sovereignty and independence can in fact lead to the opposite.
The widening and deepening of the European Union have brought to the fore the question of democracy at the European level. The system of domination already in place at the European level requires and aspires to direct legitimation - from the citizens themselves and not merely indirect, derived from the Member Nation States. Such can only be achieved by making the EU into a democratic polity. But can democracy be disassociated from its putative nation-state foundation? A revised concept of democratic legitimacy based on discourse theory is developed. It is argued that post-national democracy requires a constitution but not necessarily a state. The Union amounts to less than a state but more than an international organisation and a system of transnational governance. In the political theory of the multilevel constellation that makes up the EU, it is conceived of as a regional subset of an emerging cosmopolitan order. The EU is a state-less government. As it is not premised on group identity, it is able to accommodate a high measure of variance with regard to territory and function. The book analyzes the reforms undertaken to bring the EU 'closer to the citizens'. It documents elements of democratization and reduction of arbitrary power. However, democracy requires that the citizens can approve or reject the laws they are subjected to. Since the institutional as well as the civic conditions under which a public justification process would be deemed legitimate are not in place, European post-national democracy remains an unaccomplished mission.
The widening and deepening of the European Union have brought to the fore the question of democracy at the European level. The system of domination already in place at the European level requires and aspires to direct legitimation - from the citizens themselves and not merely indirect, derived from the Member Nation States. Such can only be achieved by making the EU into a democratic polity. But can democracy be disassociated from its putative nation-state foundation? A revised concept of democratic legitimacy based on discourse theory is developed. It is argued that post-national democracy requires a constitution but not necessarily a state. The Union amounts to less than a state but more than an international organisation and a system of transnational governance. In the political theory of the multilevel constellation that makes up the EU, it is conceived of as a regional subset of an emerging cosmopolitan order. The EU is a state-less government. As it is not premised on group identity, it is able to accommodate a high measure of variance with regard to territory and function. The book analyzes the reforms undertaken to bring the EU 'closer to the citizens'. It documents elements of democratization and reduction of arbitrary power. However, democracy requires that the citizens can approve or reject the laws they are subjected to. Since the institutional as well as the civic conditions under which a public justification process would be deemed legitimate are not in place, European post-national democracy remains an unaccomplished mission.
This book discusses the causes and nature of political differentiation in Europe. It deals with the normative problem of differentiated integration, both in its vertical and horizontal dimensions, and addresses the problem of differentiation through a theory of democratic autonomy and dominance. A politically differentiated EU could deprive people of their right to co-determine common affairs and have adverse effects for democratic self-rule. It could also take away the people’s ability to influence political decisions that they are ultimately affected by. This book argues that differentiation is not an innocent instrument for handling conflicts in interconnected contexts. The consequences of what might be a benign plea for sovereignty and independence can in fact lead to the opposite.
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