Mehr Partizipation – weniger Legitimation?

Does more participation generate more legitimacy? As convincing as this may sound, the empirical analyses on direct participation opportunities in the EU are not very convincing. Juliane Scholz shows that the reasons for this discrepancy lie in structural problems relating to the forms of participation in the EU. Using a typology of the various forms of participation that she created herself and two comprehensive case studies, she shows that more opportunities for participation at the EU level will not necessarily strengthen its democratic legitimacy. Even beyond this specific case, this book offers important insights into the fundamental ambivalence of new forms of direct participation. An illuminating analysis for academia, politics and the public sphere.