ABSTRACT
Larry Siedentop's book Democracy in Europe expresses a more cautious mood: as he puts it, 'a great constitutional debate need not involve a prior commitment to federalism as the most desirable outcome in Europe. This chapter begins with a question: why should we pursue the project of an 'ever-closer Union' any further at all? The rational expectation of mutual benefits within Europe and of differential competitive advantages on world markets could, to date, provide a legitimation 'through outcomes' for an ever-closer Union. The political tradition of the workers' movement, the salience of Christian social doctrines and even a certain normative core of social liberalism still provide a formative background for social solidarity. Modern Europe has institutionalized a comprehensive spectrum of competing conservative, liberal and socialist interpretations of capitalist modernization, in an ideological system of political parties. Economic globalization, shares with all processes of accelerated modernization some disquieting features.
