The European Union And Its Institutions

The European Union (EU) is a unique economic and political partnership between 28 different countries. It consists of about half a billion citizens, and its combined economy represents about 20 percent of the world’s total economy (Briney, 2015). Today The European Union works as a single market, with free movement of people, goods and services from one country to another. There is a standard system of laws to be followed, and since 1999 many countries share a single currency called the Euro (Europa.eu, 2015). This essay will explore the background history of the European Union and the benefits and drawbacks of the European Union.

When identifying the presence of a democratic deficit in the European Union, it is important to consider a range of factors, including international treaties and the effect they had on its structured governmental framework. One of the first official agreements established by the European Union (formerly

Donney and Canon (1997) suggests that the construction of organizational trust involves a calculative process based on the ability of the institution to continue to meet its obligations and on an estimation of the costs versus rewards received. The organizational political trust can be further subdivided into two types of trust: diffuse or system-based trust and specific or institution-based trust. While the former refers to the general public’s evaluation of the performance of the political system as a whole, the latter concerns certain political institutions, such as the Congress. In other words, to study citizens’ trust in the institutions of government, we look at their judgments about the commitment of their government to the task of representation. Citizens have access to various information sources to assess the trustworthiness of their government, one of which is through how they perceive the government to be

The multigovernmental nature of the European Union and the national governments of its member states also helps to decrease the democratic deficit, not only on a supranational level, but on a national level as well (Eising 2011). Because there is a division of powers and sovereignty between these two levels of governance, citizens have the capacity, through interest group activity, to represent their interests to two different legislative bodies that could pursue legislation in their favour (Kohler-Koch 1997; Eising 2011). Similarly, due to the relatively nascent state of European Union interest group activity, many groups with similar interests are combining and coordinating efforts in order to have a bigger influence over policy decisions (Greenwood 2003, Eising 2011). Because of this unique phenomenon, smaller groups may work in tandem with

From a macro scope it is evident the EU is strong promoter democracy and has deeply embedded democratic features, however, as Peterson and Shackleton point out that “understanding politics always begins with understanding institutions not at least the EU”. Taking this advice the essay will seek to examine the two main legislative bodies within the EU,

EP elections are a key ingredient in the debate over the democratic deficit in the EU. Generally this debate concerns the distance of EU institutions from ordinary citizens and the need for more direct citizen input into the EU decision-making institutions.

Studies show that in trust in government has been declining. The aim is to see how the trust in government can affect once quality of life and wellbeing. By government we mean all the public institutions that form the governance of a country such as the political party, politicians in government, cabinet, parliament, local councils and civil services. The Volcker Alliance is an organisation launched in 2013 where its aim is to see the effective execution of public policies and to restore the trust in government. A paper by this organisation defines public trust in government by the ability of government to effectively solve problems, address economic and international trust and be fair, honest and truthful. The factors that derive trust are divided into three categories government performance, perceived corruption and polarization and personal wellbeing (N. CLARKE, P. LIGHT, 2013). Thus we can say the wellbeing is highly affected from government performance.

Abstract: When is social trust a desirable outcome for democracy? A debate on the (un)

This critical situation encourages scholars around the world analyze causes of the trust crisis and look for the ways to influence the situation. Caroline J. Tolbert and Karen Mossberger
 (2006) notice, “citizen attitudes towards Government, including trust, are core concerns for democratic governance and public administration”(p. 354). Klijn, E.H., J. Edelenbos, B. Steijn (2010) come to the assumption, that the complicity of governmental function and expectation from the Government makes the issue of trust especially important. “Since uncertainty and complexity in governance networks

When speaking about ‘trust’ as a concept in political sciences, there is an ongoing discussion about both its definition and its application. A large group of scholars has found increasing interest in the concept of trust because it is closely related to the well functioning of a political community and the public sphere (REFERENCE). This is especially relevant in the European Union, which has recently experienced both an economic crisis, an ‘immigration crisis’, and now a member state leaving the Union.

Accession of new members from Eastern Europe into the union is possible only through good governance, effective institutions, and quality democracy. Good governance creates effective institutions. These institutions produce quality democracy. Established member states want a democratic sub-continent which will support expansion towards Eastern Europe. Next I evaluate the literature in order to establish whether EU institutions have the real power to impact the quality of democracy in Eastern European and Balkan members in order to support EU expansion.

In the aftermath of the 2008 banking crisis in Iceland, the Nordic country in July 2009 applied for membership of the European Union (EU). Yet public support for this move has always been marginal and in March 2015 Iceland’s government requested that the country should no longer be regarded as a candidate country. This paper seeks to find out what the main reasons are behind the anti-EU stance in the Icelandic population. Thanks to an extensive online survey carried out by the author, it could be confirmed that the protection of the Icelandic fishing and agriculture sectors worries the Icelanders most, followed by the perception that Iceland is too small to influence decision-making in Brussels. In general, the population adopts a rational cost-benefit analysis to conclude that their country is better off outside the EU. Sentimental issues, such as the lack of an identity connection with the European mainland or the protection of (what some see as) their whaling tradition, take less prominence in this debate.

In this section, the aim is to clarify the operationalisation of the concepts ‘prerequisites for a deliberative process’ and ‘EU integration’.

In today’s society, people often argue that there is a massive distrust in the government and the actions that occur in relation to politics. In the United States, specifically, nearly two-thirds of the American population believe their government is in decline (Keane). This decline is seen through the widening gap of the rich and poor, extreme xenophobia of politicians, and young citizens left jobless due to unemployment figures on the rise (Keane). Thus, it is easy to see that people feel they no longer are being protected by the government. Furthermore, people may feel that politics are becoming more of an area for the powerful and less of what it was intended to be. Politics should be an arena for politicians to fight for and protect their jurisdictions interests, as opposed to a job where leaders mindlessly show up for their 9 to 5. When individuals feel that this is the case, there is the potential for less interest in politics, and political disillusionment. Thus, distrust exists in the political sphere and is manifested in political disinterest and disillusionment.

Last, seeing oneself as a beneficiary of European integration has impact on Euroskepticism and on attitudes to EU institutions (ibid.: 249).