Political Representation in the European Union ― Democracy in a Time of Crisis

In recent years the financial and economic crisis of 2008-9 has progressed into an equally important political and democratic crisis of the EU. These troubled times set the framework to re-assess a number of important questions in regard to representative democracy in the EU, such as the normative foundation of political representation, the institutional relationship between representatives and represented, the link between democracy and representation and new arenas and actors.

This book examines the diverse avenues through which different sorts of actors express their voices during the Euro crisis and how their various interests are translated into the decision-making process. It offers a state-of-the-art assessment of what political representation means in this context as well as a contribution to the ‘representative turn’ in democratic theory. The authors address three key themes:

• The main actors and channels of political representation in the EU.

• Interlocking levels of representation in the EU and the way in which national and supranational representation works.

• How the European institutional system represents EU citizens through law and administration.

Focusing on the importance of representation in the legitimation of democracy, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of European Union politics, European studies, democratic theory, representation studies, civil society and transnational democracy.

Sandra Kroger is a lecturer at the Department of Politics at the University of Exeter, UK.