Analysis of the Level of Democracy of the European Union

The EU has often been indicted with having a ‘democratic deficit’ due to its supposed lack of adherence to democratic principles. In order to determine whether this is true, and the European Union is democratic enough, it is necessary to establish the meaning of the word ‘democratic.’ Democracy can mean different things in various contexts, often depending on the socioeconomic situation, political policies and structures of the country in question. However, Schmitter and Karl describe democracy as ‘a system of governance in which rulers are held accountable for their actions in the public realm by citizens.’ Beetham segregates the ideas of ‘political equality’ and ‘popular control’ whilst others such as Lively have asserted that democracy boils down to inclusive citizenship, or having a say in the decision-making process of a governing body.

Only through the isolation of the core ideas of democracy can a legitimate discussion on the ‘democratic-ness’ of the European Union (EU) be had. Thus, I propose that we focus on the idea that democracy is a system of governance to which rulers are accountable for upholding the values of citizenship and inclusiveness of the people.

A system of governance

A system of governance is important in that a society must be systematically entrenched in terms of its procedures and patterns. Usually, this is done through the use of an instrument of laws, such as a constitutional document. These characteristics combined are often branded as a regime such as democratic, monarchic, totalitarian, despotic etc. Democratic leaders are, however, usually elected, and have mechanisms in place to hold them accountable for their actions.

First of all, since there are no individual citizens constituent...

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... be adapted to a continent-wide governance. Thus, I propose that the EU cannot be said to be democratic, but for what it is, it is democratic enough to be considered a legitimate power.

Bibliography

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