Elections, parties and institutional design: a comparative perspective on European Union democracy.

From: West European Politics | Date: July 1, 1998| Author: Hix, Simon | Copyright information

The standard version of the European Union (EU) 'democratic deficit' maintains that genuine pan-European elections and parties will only come about if the EU is transformed into a classic parliamentary system: if the European Parliament (EP) is given more power in the legislative and executive-selection processes. Two influential critiques of this view are that majoritarian democracy is inappropriate in such a deeply divided society, and that European-level parties would form 'cartels' rather...

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