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Popular Democracy and the European Union Polity

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  • Mair, Peter
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    Abstract

    Although we still celebrate the late twentieth-century ‘victory of democracy’, our understanding of what democracy entails in both theory and practice is increasingly subject to a variety of qualifying definitions, many of which now seem to devalue the role of elections and electoral accountability. This is also obviously seen in the politics of the European Union, where the efforts to displace conflict dimensions into arenas where democratic authority is lacking, as well as the efforts to depoliticize issues that relate to European integration, have led to the development of a distinct political system in which the exercise of popular control and electoral accountability proves very difficult. At the same time, the EU should not be seen as exceptional in this regard, but should instead be seen as symptomatic of a wider process of depoliticization. As the experience of the EU suggests, the combination of popular democracy and legitimacy is proving increasingly problematic – not only in Europe, but also further afield.

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    Bibliographic Info

    Paper provided by CONNEX and EUROGOV networks in its series European Governance Papers (EUROGOV) with number 3.

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    Date of creation: 18 May 2005
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    Handle: RePEc:erp:eurogo:p0003

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    Web page: http://www.connex-network.org/

    Related research

    Keywords: constitutional change; democracy; Europeanization; governance; legitimacy; non-majoritarian institutions; political parties; political representation; polity building;

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    1. Erik Oddvar Eriksen & John Erik Fossum, 2002. "Democracy through Strong Publics in the European Union?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 401-424, 09.
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    Cited by:
    1. Vololona Rabeharisoa & Orla O'Donovan, 2013. "‘Europe of patients, Europe for patients’: the Europeanization of healthcare policies by European patients’ organizations," CSI Working Papers Series 030, Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation (CSI), Mines ParisTech.
    2. Camille Bedock & Peter Mair and Alex Wilson, 2012. "Institutional Change in Advanced European Democracies: an exploratory assessment," EUI-RSCAS Working Papers 11, European University Institute (EUI), Robert Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies (RSCAS).
    3. Camille Bedock & Peter Mair and Alex Wilson, 2012. "Institutional Change in Advanced European Democracies: an exploratory assessment," EUI-RSCAS Working Papers 11, European University Institute (EUI), Robert Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies (RSCAS).

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