- Preface
- New to this edition
- List of figures
- List of boxes
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- List of abbreviations
- Guided Tour of Online Resource Centre
- 1. Introduction
- Part 1 The Historical Context
- 2. The European Union: Establishment and Development
- 3. From the Constitutional Treaty to the Treaty of Lisbon and Beyond
- Part 2 Theories and Conceptual Approaches
- 4. Neo-functionalism
- 5. Intergovernmentalism
- 6. Theorizing the European Union after Integration Theory
- 7. Governance in the European Union
- 8. Europeanization
- Part 3 Institutions and Actors
- 9. The European Commission
- 10. The European Council and the Council of the European Union
- 11. The European Parliament
- 12. The Court of Justice of the European Union
- 13. Interest Groups and the European Union
- Part 4 Policies and Policy-making
- 14. Policy-making in the European Union
- 15. EU External Relations
- 16. Enlargement
- 17. The European Union’s Foreign, Security, and Defence Policies
- 18. The Single Market
- 19. The European Union’s Social Dimension
- 20. The Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice
- 21. Economic and Monetary Union
- 22. The Common Agricultural Policy
- 23. Environmental Policy
- Part 5 Issues and Debates
- 24. Democracy and Legitimacy in the European Union
- 25. Public Opinion and the European Union
- 26. The Euro Crisis and European Integration
- 27. The Future of the EU
- Glossary
- Appendix—Brexit supplement
- Bibliography (Brexit supplement)
- References
- Index
(p. 339) 24. Democracy and Legitimacy in the European Union
- Chapter:
- (p. 339) 24. Democracy and Legitimacy in the European Union
- Author(s):
Stijn Smismans
- DOI:
- 10.1093/hepl/9780198708933.003.0024
This chapter examines the extent to which decision-making in the European Union can be considered democratic and legitimate. It first considers the ‘permissive consensus’ on which the initial stages of European integration were based before discussing how the European democratic deficit emerged as an important issue of debate during the 1990s after the Maastricht Treaty had transferred considerable powers to the EU. It shows that the main solution to the democratic deficit has been inspired by the parliamentary model of democracy and involves strengthening the European Parliament. The chapter also explores how the governance debate at the start of the twenty-first century broadened the conceptual understanding of democracy in the EU. It concludes by assessing the impact of the Constitutional Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty on EU democracy and suggesting that the current economic crisis is likely to exacerbate the EU's legitimacy problems.
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- Preface
- New to this edition
- List of figures
- List of boxes
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- List of abbreviations
- Guided Tour of Online Resource Centre
- 1. Introduction
- Part 1 The Historical Context
- 2. The European Union: Establishment and Development
- 3. From the Constitutional Treaty to the Treaty of Lisbon and Beyond
- Part 2 Theories and Conceptual Approaches
- 4. Neo-functionalism
- 5. Intergovernmentalism
- 6. Theorizing the European Union after Integration Theory
- 7. Governance in the European Union
- 8. Europeanization
- Part 3 Institutions and Actors
- 9. The European Commission
- 10. The European Council and the Council of the European Union
- 11. The European Parliament
- 12. The Court of Justice of the European Union
- 13. Interest Groups and the European Union
- Part 4 Policies and Policy-making
- 14. Policy-making in the European Union
- 15. EU External Relations
- 16. Enlargement
- 17. The European Union’s Foreign, Security, and Defence Policies
- 18. The Single Market
- 19. The European Union’s Social Dimension
- 20. The Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice
- 21. Economic and Monetary Union
- 22. The Common Agricultural Policy
- 23. Environmental Policy
- Part 5 Issues and Debates
- 24. Democracy and Legitimacy in the European Union
- 25. Public Opinion and the European Union
- 26. The Euro Crisis and European Integration
- 27. The Future of the EU
- Glossary
- Appendix—Brexit supplement
- Bibliography (Brexit supplement)
- References
- Index