Assessing Participation and Democracy in the EU: The Case of the European Citizens’ Initiative

Elizabeth Monaghan

doi:10.1080/15705854.2012.702573

Abstract

the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) is the latest in a line of institutional innovations that have sought to enhance the participatory nature of EU politics. The extent to which this results in a more democratic EU, however, is questionable because simply having opportunities for participation does not equate to participatory democracy. Participation in the EU has tended to favour the involvement of various ‘civil society’ organisations rather than individual citizens. Moreover it has been justified largely on the grounds that it results in more democratic and efficient institutions and decision-making processes. The notion of participation and its relationship with democracy found in the writings of theorists of participatory democracy is somewhat more radical. Not only does it address individuals in favouring measures that make democracy count in people's everyday lives, it also views participation as leading to human development by enhancing feelings of efficacy, reducing a sense of distance from political authority, stimulating concern for collective problems and solutions, and encouraging citizens to be active and knowledgeable about politics. This paper argues that the ECI sees the EU move a little closer to a more radical view. It finds evidence of this in an acknowledgement that the ECI is to be valued partly because of the ways in which it can benefit individual citizens (as opposed to the EU's decision-making structures) in the arguments for a ‘citizen-friendly’ and usable instrument.

Highlights

Originally envisaged as a feature of participatory democracy for the EU,1the extent to which the implementation of the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) contributes to a more participatory model of democracy in the EU is not as self-evident as it may seem
Over a ten-year period2 the ECI has gone through a series of iterations as discussions have moved on from whether there should be an ECI to what kind of ECI there should be; in the process it has brought into sharp focus questions about the relationship between participation and democracy
Participatory democracy theorists make a case for the importance of genuine and effective opportunities for participation based on a radical account of the relationship between participation and democracy

Summary

Introduction

Originally envisaged as a feature of participatory democracy for the EU,1the extent to which the implementation of the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) contributes to a more participatory model of democracy in the EU is not as self-evident as it may seem. The first part of the paper discusses different conceptualisations of the relationship between participation and democracy in democratic theory, reflecting upon why participation was for a long time portrayed as in opposition to democracy It finds the source of the conflict in a persisting yet narrow definition of democracy as a set of institutional arrangements. The third part of the paper analyses the discussions surrounding the shaping of the ECI regulation and focuses upon several issues arising in the discussion that reflect broader issues of political principle and that have been the concern of theorists of participatory democracy It finds that in the process of these discussions an idea of participation has emerged that is more radical than has tended to be the case in the EU, going beyond a fairly narrow focus on effective governance to broader issues of human development and a participatory political community.

Participation and Democracy in Political Thought

Participation in the EU

The ECI and a Participatory Model of Democracy

Conclusion