Democracy in Supranational Regimes
Dr. Nellie Munin


Basic Perception
•How do you define democracy?
•What are its main characteristics?
•To what extent do you, as citizens, expect to be involved in the regime of your country?
•What are the main elements ensuring a democratic regime in your country?

Definition
1.Government by the people; a form of government in which the
•supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents
under a free electoral system…
•3. A state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and
•privileges.
•4. Political or social equality; democratic spirit…(Dictionary.com).
•
•-  Government by the people; especially :  rule of the majority.
•-  A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly
or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free
elections.
-The common people especially when constituting the source of
•political authority
-The absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or
•privileges. (Merriam-Webster).

Democracy in EU Treaties
•EU treaties mention, among the EU’s aims: democracy, the well-being of European peoples, and
social welfare alongside economic development (Article 3(1) Treaty on the European Union (TEU),
Article 9 Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU).
תוצאת תמונה עבור ‪democracy‬‏

Domestic vs. Supranational
•
•What is the justification for a supranational
•regime? Why did your country join it?
•
•Should there be a difference between the
•definition of democracy in a country and in a
•supranational regime?
•
•If so – what would be the differences?
•
•
•
•
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Who is ‘the people’ represented in the EU?
•Weiler, Grimm (1995): European ‘demos’ (=people): value driven.
•Nicolaides (2013): demoi (=peoples). Demoi-cracy: A union of people who govern together but not as
one.
•Scharpf (1997):  'just as playing together can create teams, living under a common government, and
participating in common political processes, can create political identities.'
תוצאת תמונה עבור ‪people‬‏

‘Indirect involvement’ of the People
•Who are the ‘players’ in your domestic democratic regime to which you delegate your democratic
power?
•
•Who are the ‘players’ in the supranational EU regime to which you delegate your democratic power?
•
•Do you – as EU citizens – feel that there is a difference between your connection with your
national and supranational delegates?
•
•Does the connection of your national delegates with the supranational delegates compensates for
that difference?

Does the subject matter?
•Would you, as EU citizens, want to be involved in
• any decision making process?
•
•What should be the criterion to distinguish issues
• where the citizens should be more involved?
•(could your domestic model of democracy suggest
• any applicable indications?)

Thank You
E-mail: Nelliemunin@gmail.com
תוצאת תמונה עבור ‪farewell‬‏