The Democratizing Dynamics of a European Public Sphere

Abstract

The riddle of how to democratize the multi-level polity of the EU is answered by pointing to the empirical impact of an unfolding European public sphere. It is argued that there is a self-constituting dynamic of a European public sphere which abets the coupling of transnational spaces of communication with the institutional integration of the EU. From this perspective, democracy is not external to the EU, it is already part of the logic of European institution-building and governance and is fostered by collective learning processes in which definitions of the collective good as well as conditions for appropriate forms of political participation are negotiated. In discussing the case of the EU’s constitutional reform, a theory of democratic functionalism is proposed which accounts for this specific form of democratization of the EU.

A Cosmopolitan Temptation

“…Or, given Europe's complexity, is this better conceived as constituted by overlapping spheres of publics? Some -Klaus Eder, for instance -have argued argue for a kind of spill-over effect, in which the dissemination of argument and diverse perspectives across national borders stimulates a wider, European level of political engagement through a collective learning process (Eder 2007;Trenz and Eder, 2004). However, we might note pertinently that hopes placed in the educative content of the constitutional debate have not so far been realised.…”

Participation, Dialogue, and Civic Engagement: Understanding the Role of Organized Civil Society in Promoting Active Citizenship in the European Union

“…He deduces that this space is increasingly constituted by networks in which different actors interact and exchange information (cf. Koopmans & Pfetsch, 2003;Trenz & Eder, 2004). The interaction -often competition -between transnational and national interests shapes how power is allocated in the development of the EPS.…”

Introduction

“…Since European integration became entangled in social and cultural questions, it was inevitable that new demands would arise. Indeed, the reflexive logic of Europeanization made such contestation all the more likely (see Trenz and Eder, 2004;Wilde and Trenz, 2013). Once the movement towards co-operation becomes a matter of integration, with everything that this implies, there are spill-over effects that can produce results that can never be anticipated.…”