The European Union

by Svein S Andersen; Kjell A Eliassen

• ISBN13: 9780761951131
• ISBN10: 076195113X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-02-27
• Publisher: Sage Publications

Summary

Taking as its starting point the major issues of democracy which are the ongoing concerns of every liberal Western political system, this volume offers a wide-ranging review of democracy in the European Union. It treats the EU as a new type of political system within the tradition of parliamentary democracies, a system which is neither federal nor intergovernmental, and which consequently has unique problems of how to handle democratic requirements.Part One deals with the two major challenges of interest articulation in the EU, political parties and lobbying. The second part discusses how democracy becomes the key element in the linkage between the EU and its member states, focusing on France, Italy and Belgium where the relation to the EU constitutes an important part of the national democratic debate. The third part focuses on democratic aspects of key EU institutions - the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament. The final part looks at democracy in relation to possible EU development generally, and in the context of societal change which may tend to undermine the role of parliamentary institutions.

Table of Contents

Introduction - Svein S Andersen and Kjell A Eliassen

Dilemmas, Contradictions and the Future of European Democracy

PART ONE: NUMERICAL DEMOCRACY, CORPORATIVE PLURALISM AND LOBBYING IN EUROPEAN POLITICS

Euro-Parties and European Parties - Mogens N Pedersen

New Arenas, New Challenges and New Strategies

EU-Lobbying - Svein S Andersen and Kjell A Eliassen

Between Representativity and Effectiveness

The Modern West European State and the European Union - Wolgang Wessels

Democratic Erosion or a New Kind of Polity?

PART TWO: EU POLICY-MAKING AND NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

The French EU Decision-Making - Christian Lequesne

Between Destablization and Adaptation

European Policy-Making and National Institutions - The Case of Belgium - Cecilia Andersen

Italy - Federiga Maria Bindi

In Need of More EU Democracy

PART THREE: EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS: LEGITIMACY AND DEMOCRACY

The Role of the Commission - Finn Laursen

The Role of the Council - Fiona Hayes-Renshaw

Voting Power under the EU Constitution - Jan E Lane, Reinert Moeland and Sven Berg

The European Parliament - Juliet Lodge

PART FOUR: THE FUTURE OF EU DEMOCRACY

The European Union - Rolf Gustavsson

1996 and beyond a Personal View from the Side-Line

The European Union and the Erosion of Parliamentary Democracy - Svein S Andersen and Tom Burns

A Study of Post-Parliamentary Governance

Democracy - Svein S Andersen and Kjell A Eliassen

Traditional Concerns in New Institutional Settings