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Democracy and law in Europe (CoE Annual Conference 2012)
When economic integration in Europe has been supplemented by efforts to advance political unity,
constitutional coherence and social cohesion, it has faced not only the challenge of integral world
capitalism but that of European history. Even if integration through law has had a significant role in this
process, it has also been challenged by both economic and political forces. This Conference addresses a
number of issues that revolve around a general theme: can the interaction between law, market and
community in the transnational setting be ultimately associated with a sustainable model of European
democracy? And if so, what could we mean by that? Can modern democracy in Europe live up to the
expectations of European citizens? What is the role of the individual as a subject of rights and a bearer of
duties within a multi-layered system of governance in which the sovereign State is no longer the only and
not always the main interlocutor? Can we re-define the concept of community at the transnational level
and to what extent are national communities politically and socio-economically affected by recent
developments?
Actors, agencies and processes at the transnational level do not necessarily comply with the democratic
criteria of representative legitimacy that have normally been applied at the national level in Europe. In
these circumstances it may be asked whether a displacement of European democracy is taking place, and
to what extent EU law is contributing to this reconstruction. We are e.g. witnessing the rise of judicial
review across Europe and the ever increasing importance of human rights in the European constitutional
discourse of legal systems. Adoption of different governance techniques, policy practices and assessment
schemes challenges our inherited view of the foundations of democracy and the idea of the public good as
well as traditional distinctions, for example between output- and input-oriented, procedural and
substantive, direct and representative democracy.
In this conference the topic of “democracy and law in Europe” can be approached from many different
perspectives, both theoretically and more concretely. Since the aim of this conference is inter-disciplinary,
scholars from different research fields (such as legal science, history, political science) are invited to
participate. There are especially three problem areas in which topics of this conference could be located.
They can be defined in terms of critical questions historically understood:
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How does the European Polity meet the challenge of its European democratic and cultural
heritage?
Does European history confirm Machiavelli’s republican thesis that a community which violates its
own laws is not free?
Can the anti-totalitarian historical narrative of the EU still nourish Europe’s self-image? How
imaginary is this self-image?
If the EU is a sign of Europe what does it say about its future?
How can the democratic paradox between the legitimacy and efficiency of decision-making be
tackled in Europe?
If the EU is a solution, what then is the problem?
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How does Europe relate to Nordic welfarist democracy and legal culture?
How can the Nordic welfare societies, understood in terms of a normative universe (nomos),
challenge the constitution of the EU as a socially cohesive community?
If Europeans want their politicians to find solutions to their major social problems but increasingly
do not trust their institutions and politics, what could be done? Is there something to learn from
the Nordic experience in the context of European (legal) history? Is there something to be learnt
from the non-European (legal) history?
Is there any sense any more in comparing “national models” in the context of globally integral
world capitalism?
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How can European law promote the democratic and ethical self-understanding and moral
coherence of a political community in circumstances of a global market economy?
If increasing plurality and fragmentation of values characterize our human condition in Europe,
what could be the optimal mechanism to mediate and adjust these tensions? Or should we really
problematize this talk about optimization?
If market forces and moral sentiments figure prominently in global markets and transnational
institutions, is there a tendency for politics to disappear in between? And is there any sense in
“exporting democracy” in these circumstances?
How can democracy be nourished and developed in the context of a global “law market”?
If, in global circumstances, democracy and law have to be understood in the plural, can there be a
procedural solution to the challenge of democracy?