civil society and the reconstitution of democracy in europe: introducing a new research field

7/31/2019 Civil society and the reconstitution of democracy in Europe: Introducing a new research field

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Civil society and the reconstitution of democracy in Europe:

Introducing a new research field

by Ulrike Libert

The European Union is an organization comprising European countries to increase itseconomic integration and to strengthen its cooperation among its members. Today, it is composed

of 27 countries that promote peace, stability, and economic cooperation across Europe. The

European Union originated from the European Coal and Steel Community. The EU is also

considered as the worlds most advanced regional multi-level polity with effective governancecapacities in a broad range of public policy fields that do not rely on a supranational state. During

the Lisbon Treaty it seeks to give the EU a stronger and more organized voice to the political

arena.

I. Summary

The article of Ulrike Libert and Hans J rg Trenz entitled Civil Society and the

Reconstitution of Democracy in Europe: Introducing a new research field seeks to contribute

information on what role the civil society partakes in the reconstruction of democracy in Europe.

Likewise, the article tackles issues whether how it can help in making democracy work in Europewhere it is existing in pluralism, diversity and complex multi-level governance (Liebert, 2009).

The civil society in Europe plays an important role. The European civil society faces issuessuch as: (1) controversies regarding the participation by civil society as an alternative, (2) civic and

cosmopolitan promises of transnational civil society vis-a-vis the perceived perils associated with

uncivil society, (3) and the comparison of top down activated vs. bottom up mobilizing types of

civil society (Liebert, 2009). There also has been an issue of reconceptualizing civil society fromthe national to European global sites. This is derived from the analysis since the early industrial

bourgeois society to the resurrection of civil society in the aftermath of communist regimes andalso because civil society has served as habitat for social opposition against the authoritarian state

and has turned into an engine of democratization. European civil society is conceived in terms of

networks of communication and civic participation, social norms and popular sentiments that are

perceived as correlates of responsive, legitimate and even democratic governance beyond thenational state. Another notion is that the European civil society be treated as an unconventional

venue to liberal democratic legitimacy. There are also different types of democracy in Europe such

as participatory democracy, associative democracy, and deliberative democracy. Also according tothe author, even though the European Union fails to have the collective identity and collective will,

and lacks to have representative politics that would make it fit the requirements for legitimacy of anation state, however it can still achieve a kind of legitimacy as a regional state in which itslegitimizing mechanisms are divided between the EU and the nations state (Liebert, 2009).

The author also gave the disadvantages and problems of civil society. They pointed out that

there is no civil society as a territorially confined unity. Another is that civil society can only bemeaningful if organized by the Commission; global civil society has a self- organizing capacity.

The author also elaborated the idea from top-down activated civil society to bottom-up mobilizing

civil society. The author also stated that by building a civil society, one steers heteronomy rather


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than spontaneity and autonomy. Civil society is seen as a partner of governing institutions at all

levels. The author also enumerated some disadvantages of organized civil society. These are

nationalism, racism, xenophobia, sexist views and hatred (Liebert, 2009).

Lastly, the author differentiated the top-down approach from the bottom-up approach. In

the top-down approach, the EUs locked in social and economic constitution constrains the scopefor reducing the misfits between democratic principles and practices. Also, the publicly perceived

technocrat nature of the EU acts as an impediment to civil societys showing a sympathetic face to

the reconstitution of EU democracy. While the bottom up approach gives a Promising butnecessary for channeling the always more polarized pluralism of European CS. It also promotes the

widening CS representation and participation also in EU politics and policy-making at the

domestic level.

II. Reflection

Organized civil societies could actually bridge the people and the government. These civilsocieties could be the voice or the medium for the people to direct to the government. These

organized civil societies could primarily help in empowering the civil society. Likewise, it alsoprovide legal civil society framework. It also acknowledges the needs of other civil societies whichalso have the rights to speak out. Lastly, it could also promote equal representation among the

different sectors in the country. To understand the legitimacy of the emerging Euro-polity we

cannot simply focus on how well the political-legal arrangements comply with normative

requirements; we also need to understand the social take and acceptance of these processes(Fossum & Trenz, 2006). The growth of civil society as well helped in the growth of industry in

politics and the academe.

The downside of having an organized civil society among Europe is that it could still be

prevented by nationalism. An organized civil society may be composed of different nationalities.

This is difficult especially if others have this superiority complex of their nation. This could resultalso to discrimination among other nations especially foreigners outside Europe.

In the context of the Philippine setting, having an organized civil society can greatly help the inhaving an equal representation among the sectors. Also, in the Philippines where the marginalized

sectors are not represented well, having an established organized civil society would be a great

benefit.

Furthermore, it is also applicable to the Philippines since it is a country with different cultures,

having an organized civil society would help in sending their sentiments to the government.

Bibliography

Fossum, J. E., & Trenz, H.-J. (2006). The EUs Fledgling Society: From Deafening Silence to

Critical Voice in European Constitution Making.Journal of Civil Society, 57-77.


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Liebert, U. (2009). The Contentious role of civil society in reconstituting democracy in the

european Union.Elsevier, 71-86.

civil society and the reconstitution of democracy in europe: introducing a new research field

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