The European Union: Democratic Legitimacy in a Regional State?

Abstract: The 'democratic deficit' represents a greater problem for EU member-states individually than for the EU as a whole. Legitimacy for the EU is problematic mainly if it is contrasted with a national democracy such as the US, which has finality as a nation-state and legitimacy predicated on government 'by, of, and for the people' as well as 'with the people'. Instead, the EU is best considered as a regional state, with divided sovereignty, variable boundaries, multiple levels and modes ofgovernance, composite identity, and an incomplete democracy in which government for and with the people is emphasized over and above government by and of the people. This puts special burdens on national politics and demands better discourse to legitimize the changes in national polities.;