ABSTRACT
Introduction In a context where deeper integration of EU member states is seen by many as a necessary response to the Euro crisis, the title question is highly relevant: “Whose political union?” is it that is actually being talked about. Proponents of closer integration typically claim that a monetary union would require a completed economic union in order to succeed, thus suggesting the need for integration of economic governance. This leads many commentators to argue that in order to achieve such stronger coordination of economic activities across the member states it would be necessary to establish deeper political integration at the European level to overcome problems caused by differences in national policy making. Arguably the most commonly stated formula for addressing the crisis within the existing framework appears to be (1) to create a stronger political union, which is able (2) to deepen the economic union, in order (3) to enable the monetary union to be successful. This proposition omits the discussion of a crucial prior question: Would a stronger political union be considered equally legitimate across all member states? Stated differently, if the European Union is meant to be understood as a democratic body, to what extent is the political culture across member states cohesive enough to permit a deeper political integration that is perceived as legitimate by the citizens? So far, the debate about legitimacy and the democratic deficit has mostly focused on the presence or absence of representative institutions in the EU. The question of democratic legitimacy, however, is not simply a matter of institutional design: it emanates from every individual citizen’s perception of legitimate institutions and thereby addresses the societal foundations of a democratic polity. Our investigation aims to widen the focus of the debate. Analysing survey data from all EU member states, we seek to explore whether and how evaluations of political legitimacy differ between people across the European Union. Our focus lies on understanding how national-level differences in political culture, both articulated and practised, affect how individuals in different member states come to evaluate the legitimacy of national and European political institutions. Identifying which national-level expressions of political culture
moderate the political evaluations of individuals helps us to highlight the necessary foundations of – as well as potential barriers to – democratically legitimate political integration and open up avenues for future research. Differences in the evaluation of the legitimacy of national institutions and the supranational European Union would be indicative of differences in political culture manifestations between countries, as both national and supranational institutions form related, but not interchangeable, pathways of decision making in the European Union. Legitimising relationships through national institutions and directly with the European Union matter equally. Variation between member states in how either type of legitimising evaluation is formed by citizens may point to divergences in the formation of political cultures and may therefore act as barriers to democratically legitimised integration. Starting from the individual citizen’s perception of legitimacy, this chapter makes a particular contribution to the debate by exploring both articulated and practised political values across the range of all EU member states.
