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The Importance of Participation Across Transnational Spheres for Democratic Development: A content analysis of the emergence of a European public sphere within the European Economic and Social Committee
Malmö University, Faculty of Culture and Society (KS), Department of Global Political Studies (GPS).
2021 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

The last 15 years has exemplified severe deficiencies in the institutional design of the European Union (EU). The EU suffers from a democratic deficit, which is demonstrated in the neglect if citizens preferences and their influence on decision making processes. This democratic deficit impacts not only the authority and legitimacy of the union but raises concerns between the EU and the world. The democratic deficit remains because of the lack of a European public sphere (EPS), an element which Habermas argues is necessary for democracy development. While previous research has found evidence for its existence in social networks and masss-media, this study broadens the field and investigates the potential existence if an EPS in a physical political network, namely the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). By conducting a quantitative content analysis, the study reveals clear indications of an EPS within the committee in which it is highly engaged in. Their engagement in the sphere is crucial to increase influence and power, as their engagement can decrease the democratic deficit, increase the legitimacy of the EU, and favour smooth cooperation between the member states, and between the EU and the world. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2021. , p. 52
Keywords [en]
European Union, Democratic Development, European Public Sphere, Democratic Deficit, Political Network, Transnational Cooperation
National Category
Other Geographic Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-43880OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-43880DiVA, id: diva2:1582326
Educational program
KS GPS International Relations
Supervisors
Examiners
Available from: 2021-10-01 Created: 2021-07-30 Last updated: 2025-05-08Bibliographically approved

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CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
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