European Demoicracy and Its Crisis

Abstract

This article offers an overview and reconsideration of the idea of E uropean demoicracy in the context of the current crisis. It defines ‘demoicracy’ as ‘a U nion of peoples, understood both as states and as citizens, who govern together but not as one’, and argues that the concept is best understood as a third way, distinct from both national and supranational versions of single demos polities. The concept of ‘demoicracy’ can serve both as an analytical lens for the E uropean U nion‐as‐is and as a normative benchmark, but one which cannot simply be inferred from its praxis. Instead, the article deploys a ‘normative‐inductive’ approach according to which the EU's normative core – transnational non‐domination and transnational mutual recognition – is grounded on what the EU still seeks to escape. Such norms need to be protected and perfected if the EU is to live up to its demoicratic nature. The article suggests ten tentative guiding principles for the EU to continue turning these norms into practice.