The democratic deficit in the EU

A democratic deficit may be defined in two ways; John McCormick gives a general definition to be 'the gap between the powers held by European institutions and the ability of European citizens to influence the work and decisions of those institutions' (McCormick, 1999). Christopher Lord of Leeds University adds that a democratic deficit exists 'wherever political powers are transferred to EU institutions that are less democratic than national ones'. Both definitions assume a definition of a …

…Clanendon Press) Dinan, Desmond (1999) Ever Closer Union? An Introduction to the European Community (London: Macmillan Press) Lord, Christopher (2004) www.leeds.ac.uk/politics/cbl/int/deficit McCormick, John (1999) Understanding the European Union: A concise introduction (London: Macmillan Press) Moravcsik, Andrew (2003) The Myth of the Democratic Deficit in Europe www.lse.ac.uk/collections/PressAndInformationOffice/newsand events/archive Schmitter, Phillippe C. (2000) How to Democratize the European Union...And Why Bother? (Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.)