"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 (Unpublished)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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