Eurolegalism and Democracy

Abstract

European integration is encouraging the judicialization of politics and the spread of a distinctive, juridified mode of governance we can refer to as ‘Eurolegalism’. The central argument of this article is that judicialization and the rise of Eurolegalism are not undermining democracy in Europe, as some critics would suggest, but are changing its character. These trends will change the types of policies that European democracies can effectively pursue and the processes through which they can pursue them.

The other face of Eurolegalism: The multifaceted convergence of national enforcement styles

“…However, several scholars have challenged this expectation of persistent differences in national regulatory styles. Kelemen (, , , ; also see Vogel ) has argued that the regulatory styles of EU member states converge to a more legalistic style – a phenomenon he labels “Eurolegalism” (Kelemen ). According to Kelemen, the EU relies increasingly on “formal, transparent legal norms backed by more aggressive public enforcement and expanded opportunities for private enforcement litigation” (2012, p. 56).…”

“…Kelemen () has conducted empirical research on the allegedly increased role in enforcement for private parties and national courts. By contrast, the second aspect of the Eurolegalism thesis, the convergence toward strict or even “aggressive” public enforcement has hardly been tested empirically so far (Kelemen , p. 34; Kelemen , p. 56) . We seek to fill this gap, by carrying out a focused comparison of the influence of European integration on national enforcement practices.…”

Civil Society Organisations and the Aarhus Convention in Court: Judicialisation From Below in Scotland?

“…However, another way to redress this imbalance is to empower their opponents and ensure that access to justice is equal for all citizens. As Kelemen (2012) argues, for rights and norms to have any real effect, litigants must be able to pursue legal claims. Democracy is not served if civil society is unable to challenge the legality of the actions of businesses or the decisions of the state.…”

The European Union Legislature as an Agent of the European Court of Justice

“…Constitutional courts typically police this framework, so that the idea that a constitutional court may constrain politics is not novel. Indeed, the growing power of constitutional courts, made possible by an expansion of the norms which societies expect and allow to be policed and by a social acceptance of judicialization, is widely discussed (Hirschl, ; Alter, ; Kelemen, ).…”