Premium
Is the European Union legitimate? To what extent?
Author(s) -
Haller Max
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
international social science journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.237
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1468-2451
pISSN - 0020-8701
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2451.2010.01716.x
Subject(s) - legitimation , eurobarometer , legitimacy , normative , european union , argument (complex analysis) , political science , politics , political economy , european integration , democracy , law and economics , welfare state , democratic legitimacy , economic system , positive economics , sociology , law , economics , international trade , biochemistry , chemistry
The European Union (EU) at present is characterised by considerable democratic deficit. It is argued, however, that this produces no fundamental problem of legitimation because the EU possesses high output legitimacy, that is, it creates additional growth and welfare for the citizens of its member states. In this contribution, this argument is contested both from an empirical and a theoretical‐normative point of view. Based on data for all EU‐member countries for the period 1995 to 2008 it is shown that, when compared to the USA and Japan, the achievements of the EU were rather modest, particularly in terms of growth and employment. Citizens' negative attitudes to these outputs, captured by Eurobarometer data, is used to demonstrate that, contrary to the opinions of supporters of integration, citizens do not recognise the achievements of the EU. However, important differences exist in attitudes between member countries and social groups that profited from integration and those who can be considered the losers of integration. Finally, it is argued that the separation of output from input legitimation is problematic from the normative and practical point of view since the ability of citizens to participate efficiently in political decisions and processes (input legitimacy) is often necessary to provide output efficiency and legitimacy.