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The crisis of modern democracy

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Explaining Euro-Paralysis

Part of the book series: St Antony’s Series ((STANTS))

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Abstract

The assumption that Euro-paralysis in the foreign and security field stems solely from international developments may well be wrong.1 In fact, this chapter will try to show that the roots of the problem may also be found in domestic developments. The argument is not merely about the obvious linkage between domestic and international issues.2 It is also about judgment criteria and some essential cause-effect equations. If politicians ignore solidarity calls within their own domestic borders, can one expect them to act less selfishly across these borders? If people do not trust their own national governments, why should they endorse a European government with its still-nascent forms of representation? If European nation states fail to pass the efficiency test can the Union, composed of 15 such inefficient states, do any better?3 Common policies within the Union are not made in a social, political, and cultural vacuum. Those policies are part of a complex democratic process sweeping across the entire continent. If Europe’s democracy is in trouble, then diplomatic, military, and any other policies within the Union can hardly work. In short, democratic paralysis implies paralysis in the foreign and security field. This chapter will try to assess the credibility of this claim.

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Notes

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  1. European University Institute, Florence, Italy

    Jan Zielonka (Professor of Political Science)

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© 1998 Jan Zielonka

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Zielonka, J. (1998). The crisis of modern democracy. In: Explaining Euro-Paralysis. St Antony’s Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230372849_5

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