Reflections on Democracy in the European Union
Reflections on Democracy in the European Union

Author: Afshin Ellian

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 9789059313682

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“This book is an enrichment for the standing debate about Europe and should be published and widely read and discussed.” - Boudewijn R.A. Bouckaert Reflections on Democracy in the European Union, with a foreword by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, is a unique volume that offers an interdisciplinary approach on EU democracy, law and politics from economic, juridical and philosophical perspectives. It is divided in three parts and deals with EU's contemporary challenges, its historical development, democracy and rule of law. The volume connects the EU's present to the past in order to reflect on possible future scenario's - which is especially important in these turbulent times after Brexit. The volume is highly recommended for academics, economists, politicians, jurists and policy makers. Bron: Flaptekst, uitgeversinformatie.

Critical Reflections on Constitutional Democracy in the European Union
Critical Reflections on Constitutional Democracy in the European Union

Author: Sacha Garben

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2019-11-14

Total Pages: 604

ISBN-13: 1509933263

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This book takes a wide-ranging approach to tackle the complex question of the current state of constitutional democracy in the EU. It brings together a broad set of academics and practitioners with legal and political perspectives to focus on both topical and perennial issues concerning constitutional democracy (including safeguarding the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights) in theory and practice, primarily at EU level but also with due regard to national and global developments. This approach underlines that rather than a single problématique to be analysed and resolved, we are presently facing a kaleidoscopic spectrum of related challenges that influence each other in elusive, multifaceted ways. Critical Reflections on Constitutional Democracy in the European Union offers a rich analysis of the issues as well as concrete policy recommendations, which will appeal to scholars and practitioners, students and interested citizens alike. It provides a meaningful contribution to the array of existing scholarship and debate by proposing original elements of analysis, challenging often-made assumptions, destabilising settled understandings and proposing fundamental reforms. Overall, the collection injects a set of fresh critical perspectives on this fundamental issue that is as contemporary as it is eternal.

Europe
Europe

Author: Jürgen Habermas

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2014-11-05

Total Pages: 157

ISBN-13: 0745694675

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The future of Europe and the role it will play in the 21st century are among the most important political questions of our time. The optimism of a decade ago has now faded but the stakes are higher than ever. The way these questions are answered will have enormous implications not only for all Europeans but also for the citizens of Europe’s closest and oldest ally – the USA. In this new book, one of Europe's leading intellectuals examines the political alternatives facing Europe today and outlines a course of action for the future. Habermas advocates a policy of gradual integration of Europe in which key decisions about Europe's future are put in the hands of its peoples, and a 'bipolar commonality' of the West in which a more unified Europe is able to work closely with the United States to build a more stable and equitable international order. This book includes Habermas's portraits of three long-time philosophical companions, Richard Rorty, Jacques Derrida and Ronald Dworkin. It also includes several important new texts by Habermas on the impact of the media on the public sphere, on the enduring importance religion in "post-secular" societies, and on the design of a democratic constitutional order for the emergent world society.

The Left Case for Brexit
The Left Case for Brexit

Author: Richard Tuck

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2020-04-09

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 1509542299

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Liberal left orthodoxy holds that Brexit is a disastrous coup, orchestrated by the hard right and fuelled by xenophobia, which will break up the Union and turn what’s left of Britain into a neoliberal dystopia. Richard Tuck’s ongoing commentary on the Brexit crisis demolishes this narrative. He argues that by opposing Brexit and throwing its lot in with a liberal constitutional order tailor-made for the interests of global capitalists, the Left has made a major error. It has tied itself into a framework designed to frustrate its own radical policies. Brexit therefore actually represents a golden opportunity for socialists to implement the kind of economic agenda they have long since advocated. Sadly, however, many of them have lost faith in the kind of popular revolution that the majoritarian British constitution is peculiarly well-placed to deliver and have succumbed instead to defeatism and the cultural politics of virtue-signalling. Another approach is, however, still possible. Combining brilliant contemporary political insights with a profound grasp of the ironies of modern history, this book is essential for anyone who wants a clear-sighted assessment of the momentous underlying issues brought to the surface by Brexit.

Good Governance and the European Union
Good Governance and the European Union

Author: Deirdre Curtin

Publisher: Intersentia nv

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 9050953816

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This book approaches the notion of good governance from three different angles. First it establishes whether it is a meaningful notion at all by taking a closer look at the parameters of good governance. Secondly, the authors look at the institutional translation of the criteria of good governance. In a third dimension, the concept may be analysed in relation to a number of substantive issues.

Democracy in the European Union
Democracy in the European Union

Author: Erik Oddvar Eriksen

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2002-09-11

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 113458993X

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The European Union is widely held to suffer from a democratic deficit, and this raises a wider question: can democracy at all be applied to decision-making bodies beyond the nation state? Today, the EU is a highly complex entity undergoing profound changes. This book asks how the type of cooperation that the EU is based on can be explained; what are the integrative forces in the EU and how can integration at a supra-national level come about? The key thinkers represented in this volume stress that in order to understand integration beyond the nation state, we need new explanatory categories associated with deliberation because a supranational entity as the EU posesses far weaker and less well-developed means of coercion - bargaining resources - than do states. The most appropriate term to denote this is the notion of 'deliberative supranationalism'. This pioneering work, headed by major writers such as Habermas, Schlesinger and Bellamy, brings a new perspective to this key issue in contemporary politics and political theory.

Direct Democracy in the EU
Direct Democracy in the EU

Author: Steven Blockmans

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2019-01-15

Total Pages: 467

ISBN-13: 1786609991

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The European Union is grappling with a democracy problem. The succession of crises which have plagued the increasingly executive EU for years, has led to a rising cacophony of voices calling for fundamental change to the integration project. Yet despite the seismic shock of the Brexit referendum and the electoral upsets by nativist parties across the continent, few of the plans for EU reform include concrete proposals to reduce the age-old democratic deficit. This book is concerned with the two-pronged question of how the relationship between citizens, the state and EU institutions has changed, and how direct democratic participation can be improved in a multi-layered Union. As such, this edited volume focuses not on populism per se, nor does it deeply engage with policy and output legitimacy. Rather, the research is concerned with process and polity. Building on the notion of increasing social, economic and political interdependence across borders, this volume asks how a sense of solidarity and European identity can be rescued from the bottom up by politically empowering citizens to ‘take back control’ of their EU.

Reflections on Empire
Reflections on Empire

Author: Antonio Negri

Publisher: Polity

Published: 2008-07-08

Total Pages: 211

ISBN-13: 0745637051

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This new book from Antonio Negri, one of the most influential political thinkers writing today, provides a concise and accessible introduction to the key ideas of his recent work. Giving the reader a sense of the wider context in which Negri has developed the ideas that have become so central to current debates, the book is made up of five lectures which address a series of topics that are dealt with in his world-famous books empire, globalization, multitude, sovereignty, democracy. Reflections on Empire will appeal to anyone interested in current debates about the ways in which the world is changing today, to the many people who are followers of Negri's work and to students and scholars in sociology, politics and cultural studies.

The Oxford Handbook of Local and Regional Democracy in Europe
The Oxford Handbook of Local and Regional Democracy in Europe

Author: John Loughlin

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2012-11-08

Total Pages: 810

ISBN-13: 0191628247

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The Oxford Handbook of Local and Regional Democracy in Europe analyses the state of play of democracy at the subnational level in the 27 member states of the EU plus Norway and Switzerland. It places subnational democracy in the context of the distinctive Anglo, the French, the German and Scandinavian state traditions in Europe asking to what extent these are still relevant today. The Handbook adapts Lijphart's theory of democracy and applies it to the subnational levels in all the country chapters. A key theoretical issue is whether subnational (regional and local) democracy is derived from national democracy or whether it is legitimate in its own right. Besides these theoretical concerns it focuses on the practice of democracy: the roles of political parties and interest groups and also how subnational political institutions relate to the ordinary citizen. This can take the form of local referendums or other mechanisms of participation. The Handbook reveals a wide variety of practices across Europe in this regard. Local financial systems also reveal a great variety. Finally, each chapter examines the challenges facing subnational democracy but also the opportunities available to them to enhance their democratic systems. Among the challenges identified are: Europeanization, globalization, but also citizens disaffection and switch-off from politics. Some countries have confronted these challenges more successfully than others but all countries face them. An important aspect of the Handbook is the inclusion of all the countries of East and Central Europe plus Cyprus and Malta, who joined the EU in 2004 and 2007. This is the first time they have been examined alongside the countries of Western Europe from the angle of subnational democracy.