Democratic Federalization

What may we learn from examining the EU from a federal perspective? The EU deviates from federal states but that does not necessarily mean that it deviates from federalism, as such. Federalism preceded the sovereign state, but was reconfigured by statism. Given that the EU represents an effort at reconfiguring state sovereignty it may also open up space for reconsidering federalism in today’s world. That entails considering: a) whether the EU is compatible with the core tenets of democratic federalism, and b) what changes we need to introduce to democratic federalism to make it work in an interdependent world. It is not simply a matter of establishing the fit between the EU and federalism; it is a matter of establishing the prospects for federalism in today’s interdependent world.

Rethinking federalism in the contemporary world requires paying particular heed to federalization as a process (including opposite, de-federalization). A world that is transforming may be more conducive to federalism; it may also be less conducive to it. The EU is a case in point not only in terms of developments at the EU-level, but also because a number of the EU’s member states are federations. In this paper I devise an analytical framework in order to establish when a process of transformation is compatible with democratic federalization and when it is not in today’s world of deep and complex interdependence. The analytical framework marries federalization with a claims-making approach to representation and the notion of citizenship regimes.