De la démocratie en Europe : Old Concepts and New Challenges
License
Access Rights
Cadmus Permanent Link
Full-text via DOI
ISBN
ISSN
0021-9886
Issue Date
Type of Publication
Keyword(s)
LC Subject Heading
Other Topic(s)
EUI Research Cluster(s)
Initial version
Published version
Succeeding version
Preceding version
Published version part
Earlier different version
Initial format
Author(s)
Citation
Journal of Common Market Studies, 2003, 41, 1, 1-13
Cite
MENY, Yves, De la démocratie en Europe : Old Concepts and New Challenges, Journal of Common Market Studies, 2003, 41, 1, 1-13 - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/16564
Abstract
Since David Marquand coined his famous phrase 'democratic deficit' to describe the functioning of the European Community, the debate has raged about the extent and content of this deficit. However, little attention has been paid to the ambiguous nature of democracy both at the national and supranational levels. This paper argues that. dissatisfaction with democracy has to do, at least for a substantial part, with the creeping expansion of constitutionalism and the parallel decline of popular impact on government. This phenomenon is often felt at the national plane and feeds outbursts of populism. But it is even more acute at the European level, which combines weak popular input with the most sophisticated and developed forms of constitutionalism. This imbalance should be redressed both at a national level as well as in the EU, as a nascent polity.