MVV265K Direct Democracy and European Integration

Právnická fakulta
podzim 2018
Rozsah
0/1/0. 5 kr. Ukončení: k.
Vyučující
Prof. Dr. Martin Belov (přednášející), prof. JUDr. Ing. Michal Radvan, Ph.D. (zástupce)
Garance
prof. JUDr. Ing. Michal Radvan, Ph.D.
Právnická fakulta
Kontaktní osoba: Mgr. Věra Redrupová, B.A.
Dodavatelské pracoviště: Právnická fakulta
Rozvrh seminárních/paralelních skupin
MVV265K/01: Út 16. 10. 16:00–17:40 025, 18:00–19:40 025, St 17. 10. 8:00–9:40 025, 10:00–11:40 126, 18:00–19:40 025
Omezení zápisu do předmětu
Předmět je určen pouze studentům mateřských oborů.

Předmět si smí zapsat nejvýše 30 stud.
Momentální stav registrace a zápisu: zapsáno: 0/30, pouze zareg.: 0/30
Mateřské obory/plány
Cíle předmětu
The course “Direct Democracy and European Integration” is devoted to the presentation and discussion of several important issues of the role of direct democracy in the European multilevel constitutionalism. Is the EU sufficiently democratic? Which are the features of the democratic deficit of the EU? What are the main elements of the emerging supranational constitutionalism in the EU? Will the European constitutionalism remain democratic and what is and will be the shape of the supranational democracy? Does the direct democracy contribute to the “democratization of the democracy” in the EU (C. Offe)? Is it possible to have real direct democracy on the EU level? What is the contribution of the European citizens’ initiative and the elections for European Parliament to the compensation of the democratic deficit of the EU? Which are the national forms of direct democracy provided by the domestic constitutions of the EU member states? Which are the most important instances of national referenda on EU issues and did they contribute to the strengthening of the democratic features of both the EU and the constitutional system of the respective member state? These are just some of the main topics which will be analyzed and discussed during the course.
Osnova
  • 1. The concept of direct democracy. Differences between the direct, participatory, deliberative and representative democracy.
  • 2. General comparative classification of the forms of direct democracy. Comparative classification of the referenda and the people’s initiatives
  • 3. Main characteristics of the supranational constitutionalism of the EU
  • 4. Challenges to democracy produced by the European integration, the globalization and the emergence of supranational constitutionalism. The democratic deficit of the EU
  • 5. The potential of the direct democracy to serve as remedy for the crisis of democracy in the epoch of the late Westphalian statehood and the early postmodern and post-Westphalian age
  • 6. Direct democracy in the EU Member States
  • 7. EU related national referenda – classification and principle issues. Important EU related national referenda
  • 8. The Brexit referendum in the UK
  • 9. The European citizens’ initiative
  • 10. Direct democracy and European constitutionalism
Literatura
  • See Teacher’s Information for full details.
Výukové metody
lectures, discusions
Metody hodnocení
ASSIGNMENT
• active participation in class/discussions on key issues
• 1 homework/essay* (3500 words in length)
Essays will be submitted via Homework Vaults/Odevzdávárna in MU IS.

GRADING
• 20 % active participation in class/discussions on key issues
• 80 % homework (essay)

20 % of the final mark of the students will be determined on the basis of their regular presence and active participation in the discussions during the course. Since the teaching will be partially based on the use of the Socratic method which presumes the high degree of involvement of the students in the deliberation of the subject matter active participation in the academic discussions on key issues will be highly appreciated. The main criteria for evaluation of the quality of the participation will be not just its intensity but especially the ability to formulate coherent and consistent argumentation and well-informed opinion which demonstrates the possession of both knowledge and intellectual creativity by the student. The successful written presentation of scientific essay as a homework forms 80 % of the final note. The length of the essay should be approximately 3500 words (title, name, footnotes and literature included) with possible deviation of 350 words. The topic of the essay must be chosen out of a list of possible themes which will be presented to the students by the professor. The essay has to be presented via e-mail to the professor not later than 14 days after the end of the course.

In the course of writing the essay the students have to comply with the following structure:
• Introduction. Here the students have to provide the reasons why the topic of the essay is actual and interesting, what are the main goals that will be achieved by the research, what are the key issues that are going to be discussed and eventually what is the methodology that is going to be used. The introduction should be between 200 and 450 words.
• Main part. The students may structure it in sections or may preserve it as not internally structured part of the essay depending on the choice of the theme and the way they want to present it. This part of the essay must be devoted to analysis of the key issues of which the theme is composed. The students may use different scientific approaches to the theme which will be clarified during the lectures.
• Conclusion. Here the students have to sum up the main results of the research. They have to summarize in structured way the most important findings of their analysis and eventually propose solutions or raise questions for further research. The conclusion should be between 300 and 500 words.

The evaluation of the essay will be based on the following criteria:
• Logical argumentation – 20 %
• Originality of the argumentation – 20 %
• Academic style matching the criteria for academic writing – 20 %
• Informative content – 20 %
• Demonstration of sufficient knowledge of the scientific literature – 20 %
Vyučovací jazyk
Angličtina
Informace učitele
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course starts with introduction of the main concept related to direct democracy. We need clear criteria for delimitation of the direct democracy from the other forms of democracy and especially from the participatory democracy in order to start exploring the EU related forms of direct democracy in the member states as well as the forms of direct and participatory democracy on the EU level. That is why the direct democratic institutions will be classified with regard to several main criteria. The institutional design of the national models of direct democracy in the different EU member states will be presented on the basis of the just mentioned classification. Hence at the end of this first part of the course the students will be expected to be sufficiently acquainted with the basic concepts, notions and forms of direct democracy. At the end of this part of the course the students should be aware of the constitutional provisions on direct democracy in the EU member states and with the general trends in the political practice in these national jurisdictions.

The second part of the course is devoted to the emerging European constitutionalism which is produced by the EU integration and the role played by the direct democracy in the late modern and early post-modern supranational constitutionalism of the EU. Initially the main features of the European constitutionalism will be presented. This will be done via critical analysis based on the most important analytical paradigms which have been developed during the last decades – the theories of multilevel constitutionalism, constitutional pluralism and global governance. Furthermore the challenges to democracy produced by the European integration, the globalization and the emergence of supranational constitutionalism will be analyzed. Special emphasis will be put on the democratic deficit of the EU. Last but not least we are going to explore the potential of the direct democracy to eventually serve as remedy for the crisis of democracy in the epoch of the late Westphalian statehood and the early postmodern and post-Westphalian age.

The third part of the course will provide insights of the EU related forms of direct democracy in the member states. The discussion will start with analysis of the direct democratic instruments provided by the constitutional systems of the EU member states and accomplished in the political practice. Afterwards the most important referenda on EU issues in several member states will be presented. Particular attention will be given to the Danish referenda for ratification of the Maastricht Treaty, the French and Dutch referenda on the Treaty on the Constitution of Europe and the Irish referenda on the Lisbon Treaty. However other EU related referenda such as the non-successful Norwegian referenda for EU accession, the Greek bailout referendum, the Hungarian migrant-quota referendum etc. will also be discussed. An in-depth analysis of the Brexit referendum in the UK will be accomplished. It will consist in presentation of its constitutional and legal foundations, the tensions between the principle of parliamentary sovereignty, the direct democracy and the British engagement in supranational constitutional schemes, the socio-political context of the referendum and its relation to the other referenda concerning power centralization or decentralization such as the devolution referenda and the Scottish independence referendum. Finally, we will discuss the consequences of the Brexit referendum for the British constitutional system as well as for the future of the EU constitutionalism and the European integration.

The final part of the course presents the forms of direct and participatory democracy on the EU level. The European citizen’s initiative will be at the center of the discussion. The students will get acquainted with its legal nature, the procedure for its accomplishment, the results that it may produce and its effects on the democratic features of the EU in general and on the democratic deficit of the EU in particular.

The course will finish with discussion on the conceptual issues stemming out of the effects of the direct democracy on the European constitutionalism. The chance for fully-fledged direct democracy on EU level, e.g. in the form of pan-European referendum as proposed by Jürgen Habermas, the interplay between direct democracy, European citizenship and political rights of the EU citizens and the chances that the direct democracy may serve as at least partial remedy to the crisis of representative democracy in Europe are among the questions which will be debated.

COURSE READINGS
Belov, M. Direct Democracy and European Integration – in: Globalization and Law. Nis: University of Nis, 2017, p. 19-37

Blokker, Paul. 2015. Constitutional Reform in Europe and Recourse to the People. In: Gerkrath, J., X. Contiades (eds.) Participatory Constitutional Change: the People as Amenders of the Constitution.

Brinkinshaw, Patrick, Mike Varney. 2016. Britain Alone Constitutionally: Brexit and Restitutio in Integrum. In: Brinkinshaw, P., A. Biondi (eds.) Britain Alone! The Implications and Consequences of United Kingdom Exit from the EU.

Bordino, Giampiero (ed.) 2015. A New Right for Democracy and Development in Europe. The European Citizens’ Initiative, p. 19 – 67

Crombez, Cristophe. 2003. The Democratic Deficit in the European Union. Much Ado about Nothing? In: European Union Politics. March 2003, volume 4, No. 1, p. 101-120.

Kaufmann, Bruno, Pichler Johannes (eds.) 2010. The European Citizen’s Initiatives. Into New Democratic Territory. Leininger, Arndt. 2015. Direct Democracy in Europe: Potentials and Pitfalls. In: Global Policy, Volume 6, Issue S1, June 2015, p. 17-27.

Mendez, Fernando, Mendez, Mario, Triga, Vasiliki. 2014. Referendums and the European Union. A Comparative Inquiry. Morel Laurence 2012: Referendum. In: Rosenfeld, M., A. Sajo (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law, p. 501 – 529.

Smismans Stijn 2016: Democracy and Legitimacy in the European Union. In: Sini, M., N. Perez-Solorzano Borragan European Union Politics, p. 339-352.

Tierney, Stephen Was the Brexit Referendum Democratic? In: U.K. Const. L. Blog (25th July 2016) (available at: http://ukconstitutionallaw.org )

Tierney, Stephen, Boyle Kathie. 2016. A Tale of Two Referendums: Scotland, the UK and Europe. In: Brinkinshaw, P., A. Biondi (eds.) Britain Alone! The Implications and Consequences of United Kingdom Exit from the EU.
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