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Since the beginning of the European Community students of international politics and of international, resp. Constitutional law, have been wondering what kind of animal it is, and will be, once integration has been completed. Whereas the EC Treaty of 1957 stressed the economic aspects and envisioned a steady and dynamic progress towards a Single Market, it was conspicuously silent about the political implications of integration and the new democratic order. What is needed, so the author argues in this powerful and original contribution to the debate on democratisation of the European Union, is a flexible system that supplements the European decision-making process with various direct democratic instruments such as the use of referenda. These would serve to increase the accountability of the politicians without demanding or requiring a definitive resolution of the exact constitutional status of the Union.
List of contents
Foreword
List of Abbreviations
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Incompatibilities
The Concept of 'Sovereignty'
Federalism
Democracy
Conclusion
Chapter 3. Inadequate Solutions
The Recent Reform Debate
Parliamentarisation
Multi-Cameralism
Federalism
Conclusion
Chapter 4. In Search of an Adequate Model: Theoretical Considerations
Contract Theory
Fiscal Federalism
Concepts of Group Representation
Network Analysis and Game Theory
New Normative Democratic Theory
Conclusion
Chapter 5. A Proposal for the Democratisation of the EU
The Practical Task
A System of Veto Rights
Regional Subunits: the Assignment of Powers
Sectoral Subunits: How to Distinguish Them
Procedures
Some Illustrations
A Summary of the Proposal
Chapter 6. Major Objections
Democratic Ambivalence (or: How Democratic is Democracy?)
Democracy vs. Efficiency
Biases and Asymmetries
The acquis communautaire
Chapter 7. Models and RealitiesBibliography
Index
About the author
Heidrun Abromeit received her Ph.D. and her Habilitation from the University of Mannheim. She has published extensively on the relations between state and industry in Western Europe andnow holds a professorship at the University of Darmstadt.
Summary
Since the beginning of the European Community students of international politics and of international, resp. Constitutional law, have been wondering what kind of animal it is, and will be, once integration has been completed. Whereas the EC Treaty of 1957 stressed the economic aspects and envisioned a steady and dynamic progress towards a Single Market, it was conspicuously silent about the political implications of integration and the new democratic order. What is needed, so the author argues in this powerful and original contribution to the debate on democratisation of the European Union, is a flexible system that supplements the European decision-making process with various direct democratic instruments such as the use of referenda. These would serve to increase the accountability of the politicians without demanding or requiring a definitive resolution of the exact constitutional status of the Union.
