DEMOS AND NATION: Misplacing the Dilemmas of the European Union.

"Demos and Nation," written in homage to the memory of Stanley Hoffmann, critically considers the "no-demos" theory that argues the European Union is necessarily limited in its scope and loyalty because supposedly any authentic democratic political union must rest on a "people" or "demos," which the EU lacks. There is no European demos, so the proponents argue; only nationstates possess this communal glue. I argue that, first, European history shows the no-demos theory ascribes far too great a unity and cohesion to the process of traditional nation-state formation as well as to current national polities; second, that polities at any level create their demoi through common civic activity, such as voting, political party formation, and meaningful parliamentary policy making; they are not pre-existing. Additionally, current difficulties of the EU should be attributed more to xenophobic populism at the national level than to failings in Brussels. Ultimately the no-demos theory plays into the hands of political leaders and movements that wish to advance their populist and authoritarian agendas at home by stigmatizing the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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