Legitimacy and the European Union

Legitimacy and the European Union PDF Author: David Beetham
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317884388
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 123

Book Description
Most of the contemporary debates about the European Union - about its role, its institutional arrangements, its development dynamic, its expansion and possible futures - revolve around the issue of political legitimacy. Legitimacy and the European Union addresses the fundamental issues at the heart of the debates on Europe and examines such key questions as:- -What is the scope of the EU's authority -Is there a legitimacy deficit? If so, how much does it matter -Does political legitimacy only reside in the nation state? Using a multi-dimensional conception of political legitimacy, the text analyses the character and problems of the European Union's authority in respect of democracy, political identity and governmental performance. Its distinctive claim is that political legitimacy can now only be understood as a process of interaction between the state and EU levels, and that this interaction impacts differentially on different member states.

Democratic Legitimacy in the European Union and Global Governance

Democratic Legitimacy in the European Union and Global Governance PDF Author: Beatriz Pérez de las Heras
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319413813
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 376

Book Description
This book addresses one of the most relevant challenges to the sustainability of the European Union (EU) as a political project: the deficit of citizens’ support. It identifies missing elements of popular legitimacy and makes proposals for their formal inclusion in a future Treaty reform, while assessing the contribution that the EU may make to global governance by expanding a credible democratic model to other international actors. The contributors offer perspectives from law, political science, and sociology, and the 15 case studies of different aspects of the incipient European demos provide the reader with a comprehensive overview of these pertinent questions. The edited volume provides a truly interdisciplinary study of the citizens’ role in the European political landscape that can serve as a basis for further analyses of the EU’s democratic legitimacy. It will be of use to legal scholars and political scientists interested in the EU’s democratic system, institutional setup and external relations.

Accountability and Legitimacy in the European Union

Accountability and Legitimacy in the European Union PDF Author: Anthony Arnull
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780199257102
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 562

Book Description
The European Union's growing accountability deficit threatens to undermine its legitimacy; accordingly, member states have agreed to negotiate a new set of Treaty changes in 2004. These essays consider various aspects of accountability and legitimacy in the European Union.

Debating the Democratic Legitimacy of the European Union

Debating the Democratic Legitimacy of the European Union PDF Author: Beate Kohler-Koch
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 074257640X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 403

Book Description
The discussion about a constitution for the European Union and its rejection by referendum in two of the EU founding member states has once again spurred public and scholarly interest in the democratic quality and potential of the European Union. Debating the Democratic Legitimacy of the European Union brings together distinguished thinkers from law, political science, sociology, and political philosophy to explore the potential for democratically legitimate governance in the European Union. Drawing on different theoretical perspectives and strands from democratic theory, this volume is the first of its kind to overcome the present state of fragmentation in the debate about the conditions and possible remedies for what is often called the "democratic deficit" of the European Union. Among the pressing questions addressed by the contributors are: What future is there for parliamentary democracy in the European Union? Can we observe the evolution of a European public sphere and civil society? Can participatory democracy or deliberative democracy pave the road for a democratically legitimate European Union? Conversations about democracy have engaged the public in a new way since the beginning of the Iraq war, and this volume is the best resource for students and readers who are interested in democracy in the European Union. Contributions by: Rudy B. Andeweg, Katrin Auel, Arthur Benz, Lars-Erik Cederman, Damian Chalmers, Deirdre Curtin, Donatella Della Porta, Klaus Eder, Erik O. Eriksen, Ulrich Haltern, Hubert Heinelt, Doug Imig, Christian Joerges, Beate Kohler-Koch, Christopher Lord, Paul Magnette, Andreas Maurer, Jeremy Richardson, Berthold Rittberger, Rainer Schmalz-Bruns, Michael Th. Greven, Hans-Jörg Trenz, and Armin von Bogdandy

The Struggle for EU Legitimacy

The Struggle for EU Legitimacy PDF Author: Claudia Sternberg
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137327847
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 491

Book Description
This award-winning book answers some of the big questions on the legitimacy of the European Union. Specifically, it looks at what it would mean for the EU to be considered a legitimate body and where our ideas on this question come from. The Struggle for EU Legitimacy traces the history of constructions and contestations of the EU's legitimacy, in discourses of the European institutions and in public debate. Through an interpretive, non-quantitative textual analysis of an eclectic range of sources, it examines both long-term patterns in EU-official discourses and their reception in member-state public spheres, specifically in the German and French debates on the Maastricht and Constitutional Draft Treaties. The story told portrays the history of legitimating the EU as a continuous contest over the ends and goals of integration, as well as a balancing act—which was inescapable given the nature of the integration project—between 'bringing the people in' and 'keeping them out'. In addition, it was a balancing act between actively politicizing and deliberately de-politicizing the stakes of EU politics.

The Politics of Legitimation in the European Union

The Politics of Legitimation in the European Union PDF Author: Christopher Lord
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 100052857X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 271

Book Description
This book examines and investigates the legitimacy of the European Union by acknowledging the importance of variation across actors, institutions, audiences, and context. Case studies reveal how different actors have contributed to the politics of (re)legitimating the European Union in response to multiple recent problems in European integration. The case studies look specifically at stakeholder interests, social groups, officials, judges, the media and other actors external to the Union. With this, the book develops a better understanding of how the politics of legitimating the Union are actor-dependent, context-dependent and problem-dependent. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of European integration, as well as those interested in legitimacy and democracy beyond the state from a point of view of political science, political sociology and the social sciences more broadly.

European Sovereignty, Legitimacy, and Power

European Sovereignty, Legitimacy, and Power PDF Author: Bart M.J. Szewczyk
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000293084
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249

Book Description
This book shows how the EU’s dual sovereignty–legitimacy problem can be resolved through the political concept of European citizenship, which can serve both to define the scope of European sovereignty and to justify EU power beyond national democracy. It reconceptualizes the EU’s legitimacy problem and demonstrates how sources of legitimacy can be identified and give rise to European sovereignty. It argues that sovereignty should be based on the will of citizens acting through various political bodies within the EU—city halls, regional entities, national governments, and EU institutions—and develops a general theory, arguably applicable to any political order. The EU is an unprecedented political project that is in tension with traditional forms of state legitimation based on national democracy, as nationalists and populists throughout Europe often make clear. Against this backdrop, the book fully articulates the notion of European sovereignty and argues that the EU’s sources of legitimacy are based on European citizenship and national democracy. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of EU politics, European integration, international institutions, and international relations.

European Union Administration

European Union Administration PDF Author: Peter Nedergaard
Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers
ISBN: 9004155732
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 223

Book Description
The book analyses the administrative system in the European Union with a focus on the efficiency and legitimacy of the administrative practices. In the analysis three distinct theoretical perspectives are used (a structural, a procedural and a cultural), thus ensuring that a broad variety of factors are included.

Independence and Legitimacy in the Institutional System of the European Union

Independence and Legitimacy in the Institutional System of the European Union PDF Author: Dominique Ritleng
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191082449
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 300

Book Description
As EU non-majoritarian bodies such as the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the European Central Bank grow in political influence, many have identified the pressing need to keep these bodies accountable to the repositories of the EU's democratic legitimacy. This collection of essays sheds light on the inherent tension between independence and legitimacy in the EU's institutional system and explores the options of reconciling the two. Featuring analysis from both legal and political perspectives, the volume assesses whether, to what extent, and how it is possible to control the various EU independent bodies and make them answerable for what they do, while at the same time upholding their independence.

Political Representation and Legitimacy in the European Union

Political Representation and Legitimacy in the European Union PDF Author: Hermann Schmitt
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780198296614
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 332

Book Description
How severe a problem is what may be called the democratic deficit of the European Union? This volume elaborates a conceptual framework for the empirical analysis of the alleged democratic deficit.