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Democracy and Legitimacy in the Shadow of Purposive Competence

Davies, Gareth (2015) Democracy and Legitimacy in the Shadow of Purposive Competence. [Conference Proceedings] (Submitted)

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    Abstract

    This article argues that the way EU competences are defined plays an important role in the social legitimacy problems of the EU. The fact that its powers are purposive compels the EU to privilege narrow functional goals and act in a highly focussed way. This has the consequence that politics cannot be meaningful within the EU, since essential choices of direction are pre-empted. It also has the consequence that EU law is over-instrumental and lacks expressive qualities, alienating the public. Now that EU law is so broad, the same defects are being imposed increasingly on Member States. Without another form of conferred power the legitimacy of the EU, and of law and government in Europe, will be increasingly undermined. The constitutional DNA which has been a functional success for Europe may also be its political nemesis.

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    Item Type: Conference Proceedings
    Subjects for non-EU documents: EU policies and themes > Policies & related activities > political affairs > democracy/democratic deficit
    EU policies and themes > Policies & related activities > political affairs > legitimacy
    Subjects for EU documents: UNSPECIFIED
    EU Series and Periodicals: UNSPECIFIED
    EU Annual Reports: UNSPECIFIED
    Conference: European Union Studies Association (EUSA) > Biennial Conference > 2015 (14th), March 4-7, 2015
    Depositing User: Phil Wilkin
    Official EU Document: No
    Language: English
    Date Deposited: 06 Mar 2018 15:50
    Number of Pages: 30
    Last Modified: 06 Mar 2018 15:50
    URI: http://aei.pitt.edu/id/eprint/78985

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