ABSTRACT
Abstract In contrasting UN with EU democracy promotion discourses, the article
contributes to the debate on the substance of EU democracy promotion by approaching the
question of ‘democratic substance’ from the vantage point of sovereignty. For its analytical
framing, it draws on relevant aspects of Foucault’s work on power. The article suggests
that, due to their diverging obligations to sovereignty, the substance of democracy
promotion in UN discourses revolves around an institutional-centric understanding,
whereas in EU discourses we see a significant reconceptualization of democracy as a
norms-based concept. The latter does not aim at the government of society but the ethical
self-governance of socially embedded individuals. It is argued that, with the decreasing
purchase of democracy as a universal political project and the growing concern with local
contexts, the EU’s norms-based conception emerges as better equipped to adapt to
contemporary challenges of governing. The article concludes with raising some doubts
about the democratic promise and potential of the democratic rationality underpinning EU
discourses. Democracy, participation and political change are no longer conceived in terms
of shaping and influencing public agenda but refer to socially shaping and influencing
subjective perceptions and behaviours.
