Transnational partisan networks and constituent power in the EU

Abstract

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Extraordinary partisanship in the European Union: Constituent power and the problem of political agency

“…The main idea is that informal exchanges in international party forums can prepare the ground for an exercise of constituent power in the EU because they enable citizens from different member states to develop common projects. If the parties involved in a transnational network manage to come into power in their respective states simultaneously, they are in a position to revise the EU's basic legal order in accordance with their shared goals (Wolkenstein, 2020, pp. 131–133).…”

“…They can induce collective learning processes and provide a unique form of popular participation. According to Wolkenstein, initiatives for EU reforms could emerge from intra‐party deliberation at the national level and then be promoted by “representatives who stand up for them in those transnational fora where decisions are taken” (Wolkenstein, 2020, p. 138). The expectation is that European integration would lose some of its top‐down character if new ideas for its future direction were formulated and promoted by ordinary party members before being taken up by governments.…”

“…Perhaps because he is aware of these limitations, Wolkenstein argues that the model of networked constituent power as it emerged in 1950s Europe needs to be modified and include more elaborate mechanisms for securing public approval of EU constitutional politics. In his view, “contemporary efforts to harness transnational partisan networks for the exercise of constituent power beyond the state ought to involve citizens in a participatory fashion ” (Wolkenstein, 2020, p. 137, emphasis in original). To that end, Wolkenstein envisages constitutional crowdsourcing as it was practiced in the course of Iceland's (ultimately unsuccessful) process of constitution‐making in the early 2010s.…”

“…Endorsing the view that cross‐border interaction between Christian Democratic parties paved the way for the European Coal and Steel Community and the Treaty of Rome, Wolkenstein argues that the origins of European integration point to “a hitherto neglected form of supra‐state constituent power that rests on transnational partisan networks ” (Wolkenstein, 2020, p. 130, emphasis in original). Wolkenstein notes that the relevant parties had established cross‐border relations long before coming into power.…”

“…While different approaches offer competing views as to the adequate composition of the subject of constituent power in the EU, they leave open the question as to how it could actually become politically active. In search of a solution, political theorists have recently turned to the idea of transnational partisanship (White & Ypi, 2016;Wolkenstein, 2018Wolkenstein, , 2020. Political parties or party movements extending across member state borders might be able to initiate reforms in the EU.…”