Democratic Deficit in EU: Is there an institutional solution to over-institutionalization?

Abstract

The question whether the European citizens are fully represented democratically in the institutional structure of the EU is a frequently asked one especially in the last decade in which a restructuring is underway towards a cultural union. The accusation of lacking democratic legitimacy leveled at the governance of Europe is not surprising as long as we conceive democratic legitimacy as a generalized degree of trust in the political system or in the institutionalized procedures which are designed to check and balance the powers and interests of those who govern and to ensure that collectively binding decisions are the result of mass participation of the people. This paper focuses on these accusations of democratic deficit in Europe. Yet the problem of democratic deficit is the byproduct of some peculiar aspect of the EU such as being a multi-cultural and multi-linguistic entity. Scholars therefore attempt to develop new concepts like transnational, global and regional democracy in search of constructive implemental suggestions. This paper is an attempt to contribute to the search for an appropriate model of governance particularly suitable to the EU and to examine the allegations of democratic deficiency leveled at the EU. The conclusion of this paper is that a cognitive and ideological emancipation from the restrictions set by nation-state paradigm is vital to foresee a pluralist multicultural European community. Only within a pluralist policy network can European demos be visible and can a European wide democracy be realized. Otherwise overcoming the democratic deficit in the EU and realization of a well-functioning system of governance takes much longer than the EU can sustain.