The paradox of technocratic democracy and the democratic deficit of european institutions by Jürgen Habermas

Authors

  • Jorge Adriano Lubenow Universidade Federal da Paraíba, UFPB

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18012/arf.2016.25907

Keywords:

Jürgen Habermas, Transnational democracy, Technocratic democracy, European democratic deficit, Public sphere depoliticization

Abstract

In the nineties, Habermas redirected his political writings to the post-national constellation (global and European) and the possibilities of a society politically integrated through transnational democracy (or post-national democracy). This thematic reorientation took place on two fronts. The first one is the global transnational democracy, which includes the impacts of the economic globalization on national democracies, as well the proposal for a political Constitution for a pluralistic world society, based on a constitutionalization of international law. The second one is the European transnational democracy, which includes the redefinition of the political profile of European welfare state for an economic liberal profile, as well the paradox of democratic technocracy operated by European institutions and the proposal to overcome the decoupled technocratic policy model. This paper will address only this last topic, describing the reasons of the democratic deficit and the consequent delay of European political Union. Despite numerous reforms, the technocratic policies have not eliminated the discrepancy between centralization and democratization, and mistakenly indicate another direction further reinforcing the problem of European undemocratic institutions. In contrast, Habermas argues that the democratic deficit could only be overcome replacing the technocratic approach by a deeper democratization of European institutions.

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Author Biography

Jorge Adriano Lubenow, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, UFPB

Pós-Doutorado em Filosofia pela CAPES/Europa-Universität Flensburg (2015), Pós-Doutorado em Filosofia pelo CNPq/FAPEPI/UFPI (2010), Estágio Doutoral em Filosofia pela CAPES/Universität Flensburg (2006), Doutorado em Filosofia pela UNICAMP (2007), Mestrado em Filosofia pela UFPB (2002) e Licenciatura em Filosofia pela UNIJUÍ (1999). Foi pesquisador do Núcleo Direito e Democracia do CEBRAP/SP (2003-07). Atualmente é Professor Adjunto III do DFE e do PPG-Filosofia da UFPB, Coordenador do Centro de Pesquisas em Democracia (CEPEDE/UFPB), Líder do Grupo de Pesquisa em Democracia (UFPB/CNPq) e do Grupo de Pesquisa Interdisciplinar em Filosofia e Educação (UFPB/CNPq), Co-líder do Grupo Teoria Crítica e Hermenêutica (UFPB/CNPq) e pesquisador do Grupo Linguagem, Sociedade e Política (UNIJUÍ/CNPq). Atua nas áreas de Educação e Filosofia Política Contemporânea, com ênfase nas Teorias da Democracia e Teorias Críticas pós-Escola de Frankfurt.

References

GERHARDS, J.; LENGFELD, H. Wir, ein europäisches Volk? Sozialintegration Europas und die Idee der Gleichheit aller europäischen Bürger._Springer VS, 2013.

HABERMAS, J. Die postnationale Konstelation. Suhrkamp, 1998. [The postnational constellation. MIT Press, 2001]

HABERMAS, J. Zeit der Übergange. Suhrkamp, 2001. [Time of transitions. Polity Press, 2006]

HABERMAS, J. Der gespaltene Westen. Suhrkamp, 2004. [The divided west. John Wiley, 2006.]

HABERMAS, J. Ach Europa. Suhrkamp, 2008. [Europe: the faltering project. John Wiley, 2009.]

HABERMAS, J. Zur Verfassung Europas. Suhrkamp, 2011. [On Europe’s Constitution - An Essay. Polity Press, 2011]

HABERMAS, J. Im Sog der Technokratie. Suhrkamp, 2013. [The lure of Technocracy. Polity Press, 2015].

Published

2015-09-30

How to Cite

Lubenow, J. A. (2015). The paradox of technocratic democracy and the democratic deficit of european institutions by Jürgen Habermas. Aufklärung, 2(2), p.103–122. https://doi.org/10.18012/arf.2016.25907