The EU should take inspiration from Switzerland in its attempts to increase democratic legitimacy.

Lacey, Joseph (2013) The EU should take inspiration from Switzerland in its attempts to increase democratic legitimacy. LSE European Politics and Policy (EUROPP) Blog (20 Jun 2013). Website.

Preview

PDF Download (91kB) | Preview

• Publisher

Abstract

One perceived problem for the democratic legitimacy of the EU is that linguistic diversity across Europe makes it difficult for there to be a viable European democratic community. Joseph Lacey assesses the potential for the EU to take inspiration from multilingual Switzerland in its attempts to strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the EU policy process. He argues that, much like Switzerland, the EU requires a more radical form of democracy to accommodate the diversity that exists between European citizens. He proposes a number of specific measures for improving EU democracy, including the capacity to hold EU-wide referendums, and making the European Commission open to electoral competition via the European Parliament.

Item Type:	Online resource (Website)
Official URL:	http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/
Additional Information:	© 2013 The Author(s)
Divisions:	LSE
Subjects:	J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe)
Date Deposited:	05 Apr 2017 11:23
Last Modified:	11 Dec 2024 13:26
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/72575

Actions (login required)

View Item