The widening and deepening of the European Union have brought to the fore the question of democracy at the European level. The system of domination already in place at the European level requires and aspires to direct legitimation—from the citizens themselves and not merely indirectly, from the member nation-states. Such can only be achieved by making the EU into a democratic polity. But can democracy be disassociated from its putative nation-state foundation? This book develops a revised concept of democratic legitimacy based on discourse theory. It is argued that post-national democracy requ ... More

The widening and deepening of the European Union have brought to the fore the question of democracy at the European level. The system of domination already in place at the European level requires and aspires to direct legitimation—from the citizens themselves and not merely indirectly, from the member nation-states. Such can only be achieved by making the EU into a democratic polity. But can democracy be disassociated from its putative nation-state foundation? This book develops a revised concept of democratic legitimacy based on discourse theory. It is argued that post-national democracy requires a constitution but not necessarily a state. The Union amounts to less than a state but more than an international organization and a system of transnational governance. In the political theory of the multi-level constellation that makes up the EU, it is conceived of as a regional subset of an emerging cosmopolitan order. The EU is a state-less government. As it is not premised on group identity, it is able to accommodate a high measure of variance with regard to territory and function. The book analyses the reforms undertaken to bring the EU ‘closer to the citizens’. It documents elements of democratization and the reduction of arbitrary power. However, democracy requires that the citizens can approve or reject the laws they are subjected to. Since the institutional and civic conditions under which a public justification process would be deemed legitimate are not in place, European post-national democracy remains an unaccomplished mission.