Saving Popular Sovereignty From a Slow Death in the European Union

Jan Pieter Beetz*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The European Union (EU) faces a pressing challenge with democratic backsliding potentially resulting in an authoritarian member state. EU institutions have sought to safeguard member state democracy. Most normative studies submit that the EU can legitimately intervene based on either current treaties or the theory of militant democracy, but they leave unanswered the fundamental question of the EU's normative political authority. I argue that shared popular sovereignty, which entails Europe's peoples directly authorizing the EU, is the most appropriate principle to theorize the EU's political authority for the foreseeable future. This principle results in a duty for the EU to protect its democratic peoples from backsliding governments and an account of who can legitimately decide on whether backsliding is taking place. A comprehensive normative assessment follows on the democratic legitimacy of various democracy protection measures. My argument bolsters the normative case for EU democracy protection.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)508-524
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Common Market Studies
Volume62
Issue number2
Early online date9 Jul 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2024

Keywords

  • European Union
  • democratic backsliding
  • democratic legitimacy
  • democratic theory
  • normative
  • popular sovereignty

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