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SAGE Handbook of European Studies

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European Journal of Social Theory
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An Emerging European Public Sphere

Erik Oddvar Eriksen

Arena, University of Oslo, Norway, e.o.eriksen{at}arena.uio.no

The development of post-national democracy in Europe depends on the emergence of an overarching communicative space that functions as a public sphere. But can there be a public sphere when there is no collective identity? Despite the fact that the European Union (EU) is neither a state nor a nation its development as a new kind of polity is closely connected to the formation of a common communicative space. In this article it is argued that European cooperation and problem solving create public spaces but has not (as of yet) produced a single, general European public sphere. Rather what one finds are transnational, segmented publics evolving around policy networks constituted by the common interest in certain policy fields. They are found wanting with regard to political justification intrinsic to the democratic principle that requires a general non-exclusive public sphere. The EU also harbours many legally institutionalized discourses - strong publics - that are specialized on collective will-formation close to the centre of the political system and which have been promoters of democratic reforms.

Key Words: deliberative democracy • European Union • identity • public sphere • popular sovereignty

European Journal of Social Theory, Vol. 8, No. 3, 341-363 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1368431005054798
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