On democracy in Europe and democratization of Europe (original) (raw)
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Democracy in Europe and Europe's Democratization
Journal of Democracy, 2003
For better or worse, the future of democracy in Europe has come to depend on the democratization of Europe, i.e. on redesigning the institutions of the European Union so that they are more accountable to the citizens of Europe. While there is not yet much evidence of an awareness of this "democratic deficit" in mass publics, there are abundant Europe-wide signs of increased politicization -most of which point to growing popular resistance to the further expansion of the scope and authority of European integration. Moreover, both monetary unification and impending Eastern enlargement seem destined to exacerbate rather than attenuate tensions over the uneven distribution of benefits. Were this not enough, there is mounting evidence that EU institutions and policies are having a significant impact upon the practice of "domestic democracy" in its member states, and that, at least in some aspects, this has undermined the legitimacy and effectiveness of established national political institutions.
The European Union has been a key actor in promoting democratization and providing assistance to encourage political change in that direction. The EU has been one of the most active external actors in the promotion of democracy towards third-States after demise of communism in Central-Eastern Europe, all transitional countries applied for EU membership and the EU's conditionalities set in. The EU's democratisation agenda is believed to have had positively influenced the democratisation process that countries of Central and Eastern Europe embarked since the 1990s. This chapter details EU's democratisation agenda, how this agenda was pursued and applied to third countries. In the first section a general understanding of what democracy stands for is discussed.
The unfinished democratization of Europe
2009
There is a tension between democracy, which is limited to the nation-state, and human rights, which are universal and point to the ideal republic. The Charter of Fundamental Human Rights of the European Union is an important step in the process of institutionalising a framework of a cosmopolitan order where violations of human rights can be persecuted as criminal offences according to legal procedures. The principle of popular sovereignty is on its way to be transformed into a law for the citizens of the world. But as the process of Europeansation is tainted with juridification and executive dominance the EU is in need of democratization. The citizens have obtained rights but they have not been able to give these rights to themselves. The protracted Constitutionmaking process of the EU testifies to a promising yet unaccomplished mission of democratization.
Introduction: Democracy in Europe
Democracy in Europe, 2006
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the challenges faced by national democracies in Europe. It examines the concept of 'Europeanization', or how member states adapt their democracies to the evolving European public sphere. A more helpful way of thinking about the EU is proposed, i.e., that the EU is best understood as a regional union of nation-states in which national differentiation persists alongside integration. An overview of the succeeding chapters is presented.
Democratisation Phases of the European Union
2018
The European Union is established for economic purposes and has a sui generis structure. For the European Union, it is not possible to have a democratic level like any nation-state. The Union has been constantly criticized for its democratic deficit. Many steps have been taken to ensure democratic legitimacy. These steps need to be evaluated from two perspectives. The first one is the provision of democratic legitimacy at the level of European citizens. It is seen that especially The European Citizens' Initiative is regulated for this purpose. In the second stage, it is necessary to talk about democracy at the level of institutions. Accordingly, institutions are criticized for the problem of transparency in practice. The issue of legitimacy at the institutional level is also being tried to be overcome by increasing the powers of the European Parliament and by directly participating in the election of European citizens. In this study, the policies that the Union implements in order to prevent from the democratic deficit and how these policies are applied to the democratization process will be evaluated. ÖZ Avrupa Birliği ekonomik amaçlarla kurulmuştur ve kendine has bir yapısı vardır. Avrupa Birliği'Nin digger ulus-devletler gibi bir demokratik yapısı olması beklenememektedir. Birlik demokrasi açıklığı sebebiyle sürekli eleştirilmektedir. Demokrasi açığını kapatabilmek için birçok adım atılmıştır. Bu adımlar iki başlık altında toplamak mümkündür. Bunlardan ilki, Demokratik meşruiyetin Avrupa vatandaşları düzeyinde sağlanmasıdır. Avrupa Vatandaşları Girişimi, özellikle bu amaçla gerçekleştirilen bir uygulamadır. İkinci başlıkta ise, kurumlar düzeyinde demokrasiden söz etmek gerekmektedir. Kurumsal düzeydeki meşruiyetin sağlanması, Avrupa Parlamentosu'nun gücünün artırılması ve Avrupa vatandaşlarının seçimlere direct katılımının sağlanması ile gerçekleşebilecektir. Dolayısıyla bu çalışmada, Birliğin demokrasi açığını kapatmak adına aldığı önlemleri ve bu önlemlerin demokratikleşme sürecinde nasıl işlediği değerlendirilmeye çalışılacaktır.
2017
Embedded in the Normative Power Europe framework, this chapter first identifies three critical junctures that are essential to understanding the approach the EU has developed with regard to its external democratization agenda: (i) the end of the Cold War, (ii) the 2004 EU enlargement to the East, and (iii) the events surrounding the Arab Spring in conjunction with the European economic crisis. Next, the chapter delineates four main dimensions of the contemporary EU approach to external democratization: direct programs and instruments, the indirect economic approach, international and regional coordinating approaches, and a multilevel approach with the member states.
The European Union: a democratic institution?
2014
This paper asks questions about the democratic credentials of the European Union. The paper begins by looking at definitions of democracy and the historical development of democratic political systems. It then looks at the European Union’s decision-making institutions and at a range of views from academics and politicians on the extent to which they conform to generally accepted norms of democratic government.