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6 Representation in polycrisis: Towards a new research agenda for EU citizens

  • Lucy Kinski
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The EU under Strain?
This chapter is in the book The EU under Strain?

Abstract

In the last 15 years, crises have been plentiful in the European Union (EU): the Great Recession, the Eurozone crisis, the ‘migration crisis’, the climate crisis, the Brexit crisis, the rule of law crisis, the Covid-19 crisis, and the Russian war on Ukraine just to name the most prominent ones. This chapter argues that this constant state of polycrisis is actually connected to an underlying crisis of political representation in the EU and its member states. This crisis manifests itself in dwindling linkages between parties and voters, changing lines of political conflict along a multidimensional polycleavage and a growing tension between responsibility and responsiveness. Following this argument, this chapter explores the questions of who represents whom, on what and how in the EU, both from a legal and political perspective. In doing so, it discusses conceptual and theoretical innovations to reframe political representation in the multilevel system of EU governance beyond the supranational - intergovernmental divide. It finds that the actual empirical practice of representation is much more multidimensional than expected and goes well beyond the artificial dichotomy of national vs. European interest representation. There is polyrepresentation in the polycrisis, in that we find patterns that cut across borders and institutional channels of representation. The chapter concludes by proposing three innovative avenues for future research on representation in an EU under strain. Scholars should investigate: (1) polyrepresentation as a multidimensional phenomenon, (2) justification and communication alongside representation, and (3) the demand side of political representation, i.e. what kind of representation citizens want.

Abstract

In the last 15 years, crises have been plentiful in the European Union (EU): the Great Recession, the Eurozone crisis, the ‘migration crisis’, the climate crisis, the Brexit crisis, the rule of law crisis, the Covid-19 crisis, and the Russian war on Ukraine just to name the most prominent ones. This chapter argues that this constant state of polycrisis is actually connected to an underlying crisis of political representation in the EU and its member states. This crisis manifests itself in dwindling linkages between parties and voters, changing lines of political conflict along a multidimensional polycleavage and a growing tension between responsibility and responsiveness. Following this argument, this chapter explores the questions of who represents whom, on what and how in the EU, both from a legal and political perspective. In doing so, it discusses conceptual and theoretical innovations to reframe political representation in the multilevel system of EU governance beyond the supranational - intergovernmental divide. It finds that the actual empirical practice of representation is much more multidimensional than expected and goes well beyond the artificial dichotomy of national vs. European interest representation. There is polyrepresentation in the polycrisis, in that we find patterns that cut across borders and institutional channels of representation. The chapter concludes by proposing three innovative avenues for future research on representation in an EU under strain. Scholars should investigate: (1) polyrepresentation as a multidimensional phenomenon, (2) justification and communication alongside representation, and (3) the demand side of political representation, i.e. what kind of representation citizens want.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Table of Contents v
  3. List of authors ix
  4. Part I: Contextualising the EU and crises
  5. 1 Introduction: The EU under strain 1
  6. 2 Polity attacks and policy failures: The EU polycrisis and integration theory 27
  7. Part II: The legal and democratic fundaments of the EU
  8. 3 Crisis-driven EU reforms in and beyond treaty limits: Is it time for a treaty change? 51
  9. 4 What happened to the idea of ‘Ever Closer Union’? Differentiation as a persistent feature of European integration 77
  10. 5 The difficulty of upholding the rule of law across the European Union: The case of Poland as an illustration of problems the European Union is facing 95
  11. 6 Representation in polycrisis: Towards a new research agenda for EU citizens 115
  12. Part III: The EU in a changing world
  13. 7 After the deluge: Europe, the European Union and crisis in the world arena 133
  14. 8 EU enlargement in times of crisis: Strategic enlargement, the conditionality principle and the future of the “Ever-Closer Union” 155
  15. 9 The EU after Brexit: EU-UK relations and the latent crisis of withdrawal 173
  16. 10 A strained partnership? A typology of tensions in the EU-US transatlantic relationship 191
  17. Part IV: European policy fields shaped by crisis
  18. 11 Consolidating the fortress Europe: Conceptualizations of solidarity in the EU Asylum System governance post-2015 211
  19. 12 EU Health: From pandemic crisis management to a European Health Union? 233
  20. 13 Leader or laggard? Diversity and minority rights in a union under strain 253
  21. 14 The slow-burning climate emergency and the European Green Deal: Prospects and pitfalls in the polycrisis era 275
  22. 15 European economic governance in times of crisis: Solidarity, responsibility, and legitimacy in EU debt mutualisation 293
  23. Index 319
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110790337-007

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Table of Contents v
  3. List of authors ix
  4. Part I: Contextualising the EU and crises
  5. 1 Introduction: The EU under strain 1
  6. 2 Polity attacks and policy failures: The EU polycrisis and integration theory 27
  7. Part II: The legal and democratic fundaments of the EU
  8. 3 Crisis-driven EU reforms in and beyond treaty limits: Is it time for a treaty change? 51
  9. 4 What happened to the idea of ‘Ever Closer Union’? Differentiation as a persistent feature of European integration 77
  10. 5 The difficulty of upholding the rule of law across the European Union: The case of Poland as an illustration of problems the European Union is facing 95
  11. 6 Representation in polycrisis: Towards a new research agenda for EU citizens 115
  12. Part III: The EU in a changing world
  13. 7 After the deluge: Europe, the European Union and crisis in the world arena 133
  14. 8 EU enlargement in times of crisis: Strategic enlargement, the conditionality principle and the future of the “Ever-Closer Union” 155
  15. 9 The EU after Brexit: EU-UK relations and the latent crisis of withdrawal 173
  16. 10 A strained partnership? A typology of tensions in the EU-US transatlantic relationship 191
  17. Part IV: European policy fields shaped by crisis
  18. 11 Consolidating the fortress Europe: Conceptualizations of solidarity in the EU Asylum System governance post-2015 211
  19. 12 EU Health: From pandemic crisis management to a European Health Union? 233
  20. 13 Leader or laggard? Diversity and minority rights in a union under strain 253
  21. 14 The slow-burning climate emergency and the European Green Deal: Prospects and pitfalls in the polycrisis era 275
  22. 15 European economic governance in times of crisis: Solidarity, responsibility, and legitimacy in EU debt mutualisation 293
  23. Index 319
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