The Case for Citizen Participation in the European Union: A Theoretical Perspective on EU Participatory Democracy

Abstract

Ten years after the introduction of participatory democracy as one of the democratic foundations of the European Union, this introductory chapter to "Citizen Participation in Democratic Europe" provides some theoretical background on the role citizens play, and should play, within the EU democratic system.

As such, it offers a contribution about the place of citizen participation in the wider, ongoing debate about how to develop the EU’s democratic system in a post-pandemic Europe. It sets the scene for the subsequent chapters written, again, not only by academic scholars but also civil society advocates and practitioners from across Europe who experience on a daily basis the realities of EU citizen participation.

Ultimately, this edited volume argues how Europe’s long-standing democracy challenge can be addressed through the emergence of a new model of EU citizen participation, and a set of democratic innovations emerging bottom-up across the continent. To do so, it offers a re-evaluation and systematisation of EU level citizen participation and its future development, which remains largely underexplored.

Keywords: Participation, Participatory Democracy, Open Government, Transparency, Civic Empowerment, Legitimacy, Accountability, Civil Society, European Union, Good Governance, European Question Time, European Citizen Assembly, European Citizens Consultations, citizen lobbying, advocacy, democratic innovation

JEL Classification: K19, K33