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Direct Democracy in the EU

Direct Democracy in the EU

Steven Blockmans | Sophia Russack

(2019)

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Book Details

Abstract

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.
Steven Blockmans is Senior Research Fellow and the Head of the Institutions and EU Foreign Policy units at CEPS; Professor of EU External Relations Law and Governance at the University of Amsterdam.

Sophia Russack is Researcher in the Institutions unit at CEPS, PhD candidate at Maastricht University.

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Direct Democracy In The EU Cover
CONTENTS vi
1. Introduction 1
Part I. EU-level Mechanisms 7
2. Pathways for Citizens to Engage in EU Policymaking 9
Part II. Transversal Aspects & Thematic Issues 43
3. Europe’s Conventions Démocratiques 45
4. CivTech: The Digital Revolution in Democracy and Decision-Making 65
5. A New Narrative for Europe: Who will Listen? 81
6. Civil Society in EU Decision-Making: A Latvian case study 97
Part III. Country Reports 119
7. Direct Democracy in Austria: just a tool for the opposition? 121
8. Direct Democracy and the Populist Zeitgeist: Bulgaria 145
9. Czechia Direct Democracy: From the Shadows to the Limelight 171
10. Denmark and Direct Democracy: Frontrunner and Laggard 195
11. Finland: Direct Democracy and the Representational System 215
12. Direct Democracy in Germany 237
13. Mobilising for Democracy during Austerity in Greece 253
14. Engaged but Disempowered: Italians Experience Direct Democracy 285
15. The Europeanisation of Latvia’s Direct Democracy: Not There Yet 303
16. Politics, Ideology and Voter Apathy: Direct Democracy in Poland 329
17. The Untapped Potential of Direct Democracy in Romania 349
18. Direct Democracy and the EU in Slovakia: Looking Beyond the Referendum 373
19. Spain: No Country for Direct Democracy? 389
20. Does Direct Democracy Work in the UK? 411
Part IV. Conclusions 441
21. Getting Europe’s Direct Democracy Right 443
About the Contributors 453