A Political
Sociology
of
European
Democracy
A Political
Sociology
of
European
Democracy
Week 6
Lecture 1
Lecturer
Paul Blokker
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Governo Locale
Introduction
The Construction of a European Political
Society
• Legitimacy
• Normative justifications
Different views on:
• Role and relevance of actors (governments,
experts, civil society, citizens)
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• Institutions and integration
Governo Locale
Introduction
4
Governo Locale
Introduction
Announcement: Examination
- The student will be evaluated at the end of
the course by means of a written essay
NB. New deadline: Thursday 7 June,
to be handed in by e-mail, by 17:00
pm;
- The written essay will be of a minimum of
3.000 words, and needs to contain a
bibliography with at least 10 academic
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resources.
Governo Locale
Introduction
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Multiple Democracies II:
Communitarian Democracy
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
(Eriksen 2009, chapter 4)
Stakeholder
democracy
Instrumental
legitimacy
Communitarian
democracy
Contextual
legitimacy
Postnational
democracy
Universalistic
legitimacy
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
‘To constitute and give life to a body politic
is to put some things in common. ... The
problem of the Europeans is that they do
not know what they want to put in
common’.
(Manent, 2006: 67)
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
Rather than simply a classificatory matter, how
one conceptualises the common says much about
the models of democracy to which one wants to
lend credence. One’s perspective is laden with
consequences for how one understands the
purpose of the polity and the nature of
citizenship, and how one understands the
challenges that a particular polity or polities in
general may face. It may point towards certain
kinds of institutional configuration or ‘regime’
rather than others.
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(White, 2010: 106)
Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
To suggest what Europeans might put in
common is at the same time to suggest a vision
of politics for the EU. Likewise any vision of how
a polity should look is going to involve,
explicitly or implicitly, a position being taken on
what it is that holds the political community
together. A debate on the nature of the
common is embedded in all discussion of the
political, and the implications of different
positions are therefore an appropriate target of
inquiry.
(White, 2010: 106)
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
(Eriksen 2009, chapter 4)
-
-
Thus, a different strategy for legitimation of the
European Union and European democracy is
that of a value-based community or a
communitarian view of democracy.
This strategy is based on the need to further
clarify the value basis of the EU, by means of a
collective process of self-interpretation or selfidentification.
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
(Eriksen 2009, chapter 4)
-
-
-
This strategy has been attempted both in the
European Charter of Fundamental Rights and the
Convention on the Future of Europe;
A main discussion was about the question of
Europe’s religious heritage as one such a value
basis;
Also the Lisbon Treaty contains a reference to
Europe’s religious inheritance.
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
(Eriksen 2009, chapter 4)
-
example
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
(Eriksen 2009, chapter 4)
-
example
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
(Eriksen 2009, chapter 4)
-
example
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
(Eriksen 2009, chapter 4)
-
example
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
(Eriksen 2009, chapter 4)
-
example
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
(Eriksen 2009, chapter 4)
-
The idea behind the communitarian strategy is
that the EU is a p0lity in the making, and in
order for it to become a robust political
community with democratic legitimacy it needs
to stimulate the idea of a common identity,
which can then serve as a basis for shared
objectives and visions for the European project.
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
(Eriksen 2009, chapter 4)
-
This perspective posits that ‘because of a
common destiny, a common fate induced by
common vulnerabilities, people are turned into
compatriots who are willing to take on new
collective obligations to provide for each other’s
well-being’ (Eriksen 2009: 66).
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
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On the political philosopher’s Will Kymlicka’s
account, the significance of a national
identity and culture for democracy consists
of the fact that it provides
- a common language for
communication as well as
- a system of meaning in order to make
meaningful choices;
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
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National identity thus provides individual
citizens with meaning, means of
communication and a distinct identity. A
‘societal culture’, in Kymlicka’s terms,
consists of a ‘territorially concentrated
culture, centred on a shared language which
is used in a wide range of societal
institutions, in both public and private life’
(in: Blokker 2009)
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
-
Imagined community
“It is imagined because the members of even the
smallest nation will never know most of their fellowmembers, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in
the minds of each lives the image of their
communion. Renan referred to this imagining in his
suavely back-handed way when he wrote that 'Or
l’essence d'une nation est que tous les individus aient
beaucoup de choses en commun, et aussi que tous
aient oublié bien des choses.”
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
-
Imagined community
“With a certain ferocity Gellner makes a comparable
point when he rules that 'Nationalism is not the
awakening of nations to self-consciousness: it
invents nations where they do not exist.' The
drawback to this formulation, however, is that
Gellner is so anxious to show that nationalism
masquerades under false pretences that he
assimilates 'invention' to 'fabrication' and 'falsity',
rather than to 'imagining' and 'creation‘.“
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
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Imagined community
“In this way he implies that 'true' communities exist
which can be advantageously juxtaposed to nations.
In fact, all communities larger than primordial
villages of face-to-face contact (and perhaps even
these) are imagined.
Communities are to be distinguished, not by their
falsity/genuineness, but by the style in which they
are imagined”.
(Benedict Anderson (1983), Imagined Communities)
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
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(Eriksen 2009, chapter 4)
A communitarian strategy is based on the
socio-cultural mobilization of people around
particular ethical- cultural values and the
idea of clear boundaries between the ingroup (EU citizens) and the out-group (nonEU citizens);
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
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(Eriksen 2009, chapter 4)
Thus, ‘once established, the sense of
common identity is maintained through a
system of border control, which excludes
those deemed as others, and a system of
military defence that protects against
external aggression, influence, and control’.
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
(Eriksen 2009, chapter 4)
A European strategy of communitarian
democracy:
-
The active development of a we-feeling;
The identification of a set of European values;
Socialization of people into becoming
‘Europeans’;
A set of clearly identified criteria of who are
Europeans and who are not.
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
(Eriksen 2009, chapter 4)
Communitarian forms of legitimacy:
-
-
Democracy is here about searching for shared
values, identify problems which need collective
attention, and make hard choices about noncommensurable entities;
Communitarian legitimacy then views
democracy then as deliberation upon the
common good, and the enhancement of
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solidarity.
Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
(Eriksen 2009, chapter 4)
Communitarian forms of legitimacy:
-
-
Citizens are then supposed to participate in the
collective quest for a common good and
interest;
There is thus a strong emphasis on political
socialization and the development of feelings of
belonging.
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
Communitarian democracy as a model:
-
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Communitarian democracy gives a priority to an
‘ethic of identity’ (Blokker 2010), that is, the idea
that democratic society needs a minimal level of
shared identity;
The ‘community is paramount and communal
solidarity the overriding value’ (Rosenfeld 2006);
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
Communitarian democracy as a model:
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Identity fulfils various functions:
- facilitates meaningful communication;
- facilitates meaningful choices for
individuals;
- stimulates some form of solidarity
between members of a community ‘that
will never meet’, an ‘imagined
community’
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
Communitarian democracy as a model:
-
-
Modern democracies need to make choices on
membership and its criteria;
In addition, any kind of democracy needs some
cultural substrate (based on a common history,
traditions and shared language);
Communitarian democracy is about ‘patriotism’
and a shared ‘love of the particular’ of the polity;
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
Communitarian democracy as a model:
-
-
This means that identity is ultimately prior to
rights in a communitarian democracy;
In other words, rights are defined through the
lens of a specific community;
Specific rights are deemed more important in
some states than in others: social rights,
freedom of expression, religious rights
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
(Eriksen 2009, chapter 4)
Communitarian democracy:
-
Communitarian democracy is akin to what the
political philosopher Michael Walzer has called
“Liberalism 2”, which "allows for a state
committed to the survival and flourishing of a
particular nation, culture or religion or of a limited
set of nations, cultures, and religions - so long as
the basic rights of citizens who have different
commitments or no such commitments at all
35 are
protected."
Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
(Eriksen 2009, chapter 4)
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
Benefits of EU communitarianism:
1. Symbolic dimension: Potentially tying
citizens to the European project (reflection
of key values);
2. Dialogic dimension: facilitation of debate
on European values (e.g. religion);
3. Collective dimension: emphasis on the
common good.
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Governo Locale
Communitarian
democracy
Communitarian democracy
Problems with communitarianism:
1. No autonomous political sphere, but
politics expression of national community;
2. Depoliticisation;
3. Diversity is downplayed (e.g. EU is
pluralistic);
4. Rights are understood contextually, and
less so in a universalistic way.
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