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"Normative Accountability and Supranational Democracy"

Lotz, Andrew (2006) "Normative Accountability and Supranational Democracy". In: UNSPECIFIED, Pittsburgh, PA. (Unpublished)

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    Abstract

    The European Parliament has been a frequent focus of debate about the democratic deficit in the European Union. This essay argues that the innovative use of rhetorical action in foreign policy by the European Parliament can provide grounding for re-considering the way in which supranational structures might be judged democratic. I begin with a brief look at the traditional challenge of parliaments and foreign policy: limitations of competency on foreign affairs because of the representative and public nature of parliaments. Then I show that while the European Parliament is formally bound by similar restrictions, it utilizes methods of informal influence—including framing and shaming. What is innovative about the European Parliament’s use of framing and shaming is the way in which these tools are used as an ex ante means of constraining foreign policy. Instead of accountability as popular control, this rhetorical action generates a form of accountability to normative ideals. This normative accountability, when coupled with democratic norms (as in the case of the European Union), can serve as an alternative to traditional concerns of the democratic deficit—which are excessively focused on matching European institutions with those of national-level democracy.

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    Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
    Subjects for non-EU documents: EU policies and themes > Policies & related activities > political affairs > democracy/democratic deficit
    EU policies and themes > External relations > common foreign & security policy 1993--European Global Strategy
    EU policies and themes > EU institutions & developments > European Parliament
    Subjects for EU documents: UNSPECIFIED
    EU Series and Periodicals: UNSPECIFIED
    EU Annual Reports: UNSPECIFIED
    Conference: University of Pittsburgh, European Union Center of Excellence > 2006 (1st) Graduate Student Conference on the European Union
    Depositing User: Kostas Kourtikakis
    Official EU Document: No
    Language: English
    Date Deposited: 10 Apr 2006
    Page Range: p. 22
    Last Modified: 15 Feb 2011 17:40
    URI: http://aei.pitt.edu/id/eprint/6131

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