Democracy Without Democracy? Can the EU's Democratic 'Outputs' be Separated from the Democratic 'Inputs' Provided by Competitive Parties and Majority Rule?

Abstract

Various European Union (EU) analysts suggest that although a democratic deficit exists from the perspective of ‘input’ democracy, democratic processes such as competitive parties and majority rule are neither necessary nor suitable to secure democratic ‘outputs’ of the kind the EU delivers. This article disputes this claim. ‘Input’ arguments are vital to the legitimacy of decision-making in the EU’s policy areas, and the non- and counter-majoritarian mechanisms these analysts advocate have perverse rather than beneficial effects on the quality of ‘outputs’.

Keywords: Democratic deficit, input and output democracy, majority rule