Abstract
Engaging with articles published in this journal by Wolfgang Merkel, Wolfgang Streeck and Colin Crouch, the present article seeks to elaborate on the relation between capitalism and democracy in the European Union. The key question addressed by the article is whether and to what extent democracy is possible within the EU, or whether the EU must be regarded as the Trojan horse of capitalism. The first two sections consist of a brief discussion of the main arguments raised in the foregoing debate and of the institutional and politico-cultural dimensions of democracy in the EU’s multilevel system. The central section of the paper is devoted to a discussion of the complex contexts and actors influencing the relation between democracy and capitalism, or rather, economic liberalization and deregulation, in the EU. In the fifth and final section I consider whether and to what extent democracy is possible within the EU’s system of liberal capitalism and how representative democracy in the EU and the multilevel system could be safeguarded and improved under current conditions. To this end, I present six possible pathways for institutional and democratic reform that are of varying complexity.
Zusammenfassung
Der Beitrag diskutiert die Beziehung zwischen Demokratie und Kapitalismus in der Europäischen Union und knüpft dabei an Beiträge an, die Wolfgang Merkel, Wolfgang Streeck und Colin Crouch in der ZfVP zum Thema „Kapitalismus und Demokratie“ vorgelegt haben. Die leitende Frage ist, ob und inwieweit Demokratie in der EU möglich ist, oder ob diese als Trojanisches Pferd des Kapitalismus betrachtet werden muss. In den ersten beiden Abschnitten werden dazu die Kernargumente aus der bisherigen Debatte um „Demokratie und Kapitalismus“ rekapituliert und die institutionelle sowie die politisch-kulturelle Dimension von Demokratie im EU-Mehrebenensystem diskutiert. Der Hauptteil widmet sich einer Analyse der komplexen Zusammenhänge der Kontexte und Akteure, die die Beziehung von Demokratie und Kapitalismus, oder genauer: wirtschaftlicher Liberalisierung und Deregulierung, in der EU prägen. Im fünften und abschließenden Abschnitt wird diskutiert, ob und inwieweit Demokratie im marktliberalen Kapitalismus der EU möglich ist und wie Demokratie im EU-Mehrebenensystem unter diesen Umständen geschützt und verbessert werden könnte. Abschließend werden sechs mögliche institutionelle Reformen vorgestellt.
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Notes
This argument differs from that made within the demoicracy debate: proponents of demoicracy mainly argue that only national demoi can provide a legitimating foundation for the EU (see e. g. Nicolaïdis 2013).
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Acknowledgements
My special thanks to Johannes Loheide for his thoughtful and reflective discussion of the topic.
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Wiesner, C. Capitalism, democracy, and the European Union. Z Vgl Polit Wiss 10, 219–239 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12286-016-0320-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12286-016-0320-y