Democracy through Strong Publics in the European Union?

Abstract

This article explores the democratizing role of strong publics, which are institutionalized bodies of deliberation and decision-making. Strong publics are important to modern democracy as they subject decision-making to justificatory debate. This article evaluates selected aspects of the institutional nexus of the EU in order to see if they qualify as strong publics. The focus is on comitology, the European Parliament and the Charter Convention. These bodies vary in their status as strong publics, but to various degrees they all inject the logic of impartial justification and reason-giving into the EU system.

Transnationalism as an Index to Construct European Identities: an Analysis of ‘Transeuropean’ Discourses

“…Habermas sees the EPS as a transnational site of participation in the democratic debate on European issues which must exist for a European civic identity to emerge and for the European project to be fully legitimized. Although there is little consensus as to whether (and to which extent) the EPS exist in transnational forms (see, inter alia, Closa 2001, Salvatore et al 2013, Eriksen and Fossum 2001, Splichal 2006, Triandafyllidou et al 2009, Risse 2010, an increasing number of European social actors -such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and (in)formal networks -have emerged in recent years which are focused on transnational clusters of interests (Kaiser 2010, Della Porta andTarrow 2005 . The salience of investigating DC4E lies therefore in the NGO's cross-border set up and, most of all, in its advocacy for framing the debate over European issues within the construction of a transnational (civic) community.…”

Redirecting national parliaments: Setting priorities for involvement in EU affairs

“…Firstly, arguments about European integration should be exchanged in an effort to reach optimal policies in a process of rational deliberation where the best argument wins (Eriksen and Fossum, 2002). Secondly, debates are needed through which party positions on EU issues can be signaled to voters.…”

Representative Bureaucracy and the Role of Expertise in Politics

“…They are assumed to prepare dossiers, argue and negotiate on the basis of their professional competences and to legitimate their authority on scientific competences (Haas, 1992). Their behaviour is expected to be guided by considerations of scientific and professional correctness and the power of the better argument (Eriksen & Fossum, 2000). Their role perceptions and loyalties are primarily directed towards their expertise and educational background as well as towards external professional networks.…”