The darling dogma of bourgeois europeanists

• Autores: Alexander Somek
• Localización: European Law Journal, ISSN-e 1468-0386, Vol. 20, Nº. 5, 2014, págs. 688-712
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This review article examines critically the belief that national democracies are inherently deficient on democratic grounds since they affect people across their own borders without offering them a voice in the domestic political process. Supranational institutions are supposed to address this problem. The article explains, first, that this belief can be given two different readings: one is liberal, the other democratic. Second, it argues that making sense of this belief requires transforming it into a principle of cosmopolitan citizenship that draws on the idea of virtual representation. The current European Union would look differently if it were to abide by this principle.