A Promise of EU Democracy? Introductory Remarks

This chapter provides an introduction to the key issues raised in the volume. Democracy has long been contested in Europe and the democratic experience of the European Union has been mixed. Polarized political currents have re-emerged, finding themselves in sometimes visceral confrontation. Despite, or rather because of, these struggles throughout contemporary European history, European integration has been built on the promise of democracy: that is, not only would the Member States be founded on democratic principles but the Union would extend these principles to the supranational level, thereby democratizing relations between the Member States and their peoples. While the Union’s democratic credentials have seen ups and downs, the present volume brings together contributions that foreground the democratic promise that it holds and asks to what extent the Union has been able to live up to its promise.