Democracy and (dis)-integration : the conditions for a legitimate and effective economic and political organization

Abstract

Our aim in this paper is to address the big questions of today’s European Union, more specifically, the Union’s deep legitimacy deficit that touches upon all aspects of input, throughout and output. We make three main points. (1) That the current crisis of European integration is to be understood as a manifestation of a broader question that concerns the conditions under which liberal democracy and a market economy may be made compatible. (2) That the long-term dynamics of European integration is driven by the inherent tension in democratic systems between representative and effective governance. (3) That the most urgent task facing European integration research is the normative imperative to rethink effective and legitimate democratic practices – who is involved, at what level, in what capacity, together with whom – and to redesign the boundaries of democratic governance between the EU and the member states.