Bringing the citizen back into EU democracy: against the input-output model and why deliberative democracy might be the answer

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article asks what role deliberative democracy could play in democratising the EU. Whilst searching for an answer to this question, the article aims to contribute to the post-2008 financial and economic crisis EU democracy debate with a substantial rethinking of the EU-citizen relationship. The article is also critical of the existing democracy models, and in particular the input-output model, that treats citizens’ participation in policymaking (input) and policies’ effects on citizens (output) as separate phenomena. The article aims to contribute to the emergence of a collaborative research agenda between the EU and deliberative democracy scholarships with a view to improving citizen participation in EU policymaking in the light of deliberative democracy. Using the European Commission’s consultation regime as an empirical example, the article shows that it is indeed possible to implement deliberative democracy in the EU.