Democracy in Europe

Book abstract:

Larry Siedentop takes his inspiration from the heated discussions that took place before the birth of federal government in the United States. He believes that any evaluation of the prospects of creating a European federal state should begin with American federalism. He examines whether representative government is practically possible across the vast physical scale and human diversity of Europe. He explores the threat to local autonomy and individual freedom posed by a necessarily distant central power and he anatomizes the widely different political economies of Britain, France and Germany. He balances throughout an understanding of the great theorists of supra-national government, especially Montesquieu and De Tocqueville, with a deep, though critical, appreciation of contemporary Europe.

After assessing the obstacles facing integration, Siedentop reasserts the vital importance of wider engagement in the fundamental political questions facing us. He argues that it is only on a publicly discussed and commonly agreed constitution that we can hope to build a Europe equal to the pressures it will have to withstand. The moves towards integration in Europe already in train, and those as yet only planned, will change us. It is up to us, says Siedentop, to ensure that we are changed for the better.

This is a reflective, thought-provoking book which should stimulate debate on the future of Europe.

Larry Siedentop is a Faculty Lecturer in Political Thought at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Keble College.