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This paper develops a relational analysis of populism. After placing the rise of contemporary European populism in the post-Cold War context, the static definition of populism as a "thin-centred" and restrictive ideology is exposed. A definition of populism as a process is used, in contrast with the tendency to apply static definitions. The figure of Pablo Iglesias is in this sense presented as an exemplary case that demonstrates the limitations of the use of these static definitions. The EU is also examined as a body that is spearheading the depoliticising processes that provoke the populist reaction - placing the focus on the "New Intergovernmentalism" to interpret the integration dilemmas - and the populist-technocratic and liberal-democratic dichotomies are addressed as historical endosymbioses. Finally, consideration is given to what should be done about the populist impasse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the EU's usage of conditionality for democracy promotion within the European Neighbourhood Policy and its conditions, possibilities and limitations. In doing so, I will first develop a theoretical framework for analysing mechanisms of democracy promotion in general and conditionality as a state-centred, rational-choice mechanism in particular. I will show that, apart from the attractiveness of the incentives, there are other variables crucial for a successful use of conditionality. Furthermore, conditionality might be used as a promising strategy for the formal implementation of democratic institutions. However, in completing the consolidation of democracy, conditionality is highly limited. The empirical part of the paper will focus on EU democracy promotion in Ukraine and the incentives the EU offers to Ukraine instead of a membership perspective. With the help of this case study it will be discussed whether these elements of flexible integration are suitable for promoting democracy. Examples of such incentives are a visa-free regime, a new enhanced agreement, or a free trade area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Fundamental controversy reigns in Europe over how to understand globalization. This is particularly true with respect to globalization's impact on democracy. The spectrum of relevant diagnoses ranges from those which identify an extreme danger to democracy to others which find that democracy is undergoing a substantive strengthening. The spectrum of proposals is similarly divergent. Some recommend the acceptance of a loss of democracy, some call for national self-preservation, others advocate a global democratic federation. The paper provides a stocktaking from a European perspective of influential scholarly positions on the basis of categorized diagnoses and proposals, and examines their conceptions of the further development of international law. This project is carried out in three steps. The first step serves to outline the concepts of globalization and democracy. The second presents important conceptions relating to the impact of globalization on the reality of democracy in a world organized around statehood. The third step puts forward ideas for the protection and development of democracy in the process of globalization and relates them to conceptions on the future development of international law. The article concludes with perspectives for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents results of a cross-national comparative research project on the case of democracy in the European Social Forums (ESFs) process over the period from 2003 to 2005. The various progressive social movements engaged in the European Social Forums process try to construct "another world" and "another public sphere" internally within their own practices of participatory and deliberative democracy in public forums. This includes fighting discriminations against women in general and women from non-western European parts of the world in particular. I take as my point of departure the case of "women without," that is women activists who lack financial resources and/or have problems participating in transnational meetings because of border or visa restrictions. In the context of the European, preparatory meetings to the ESF, these women are for the most part either migrants living in the European Union or women coming from Eastern, South or Central Europe. To what extent do the effective processes of decision-making in the ESF preparatory process include the perspective and claims of materially less privileged participants, in particular these distinct groups of "women without"? Based on a feminist critique of the Habermasian model of deliberative democracy, I discuss the quality of democratic deliberation in the ESF's assemblies from the perspective of the networks of women without. Then, as a second step, I show how the strategies of these materially less privileged activists break discursive mechanisms of exclusion inside the ESF process and build their own transnational networks subverting the ruling discourse structure of the ESF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Democracy may well be the primary virtue of political systems. Yet European politics is marked by a democracy deficit that will not disappear spontaneously. While legal and political theory on this issue is dominated by supporters of civic institutionalism and constitutional republicanism, liberal nationalists seem to be split. They justify the civic nationhood of member states, but they shrink away from the idea of a European people. This essay claims that a quasi-national conception of European identity can be conducive to the rise of a democratic political union of Europe. It discusses the mechanisms and rules for Europeanization of the sense of equal dignity and solidarity. This approach to supranational identity is explicitly instrumental and orientated towards the long run. However, the main liberal objections against it can be countered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Just one decade ago millions of men and trillions of dollars of equipment stood ready for combat in Europe. The demise of the political systems in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union defused the situation. This political creative destruction opened the door to great opportunities, but also to great dangers. On the bright side, a continuing success story in eastern Europe will lock in democracy and promarket reforms. Moreover, a hundred million eastern consumers with rising incomes are a bonanza for western European businesses. Continuing economic success in the east will foster prosperity and peace throughout the continent. On the dark side, however, stagnant or failing incomes and impoverishment of a large slice of the population could foster widespread disillusionment with market economics and democracy. Most worrying of all is that this may occur while a power vacuum exists in central Europe.