Protecting Democracy in Europe: Pluralism, Autocracy and the Future of the EU

The future of Europe as a community of democratic states is deeply uncertain. The European Union, founded to promote 'ever closer' integration, aims nominally for peaceful, prosperous cooperation. But this ideal has been battered by a series of bruising crises, and now by war. Protecting Democracy in Europe examines how, in this brave new world, the EU can and must safeguard democratic governance within its member states. Reviewing the Union's past responses, Tom Theuns demonstrates that its existing laws and policies are normatively and expressively incoherent. Its failure to defend democratic values is unsurprising: the EU's existing toolbox is based on an impoverished conception of democracy, and runs counter to its fundamental principles. Close attention to speeches by European Commissioners shows that they see democracy in a technical and legalistic way. This perspective-'democracy without politics'-is easy for would-be autocrats to exploit. To protect democracy in Europe, Theuns argues, the EU must urgently correct policies that make it complicit in democratic backsliding. It must contain autocratic influences (within the strict limits of its political authority). And it must cultivate pluralist democracy within its constituent countries. But where this fails, he concludes, autocratic members should be expelled.

About the Author :
Tom Theuns is Senior Assistant Professor of Political Theory and European Politics at Leiden University's Institute of Political Science, and Associate Researcher at Sciences Po in Paris. He has published widely, including in American Political Science Review, the Journal of Common Market Studies and the Journal of European Integration.

Review :
"Theuns makes a powerful case that the EU's timid, legalistic and depoliticized response to autocratic populism has allowed anti- democratic governments to become dangerously entrenched and urges an explicitly political fight against autocrats." -- Matt Steinglass, Europe correspondent, The Economist "The cancer of far-right nationalism is destroying Europe. Theuns delivers a bracing diagnosis-current EU policies have not only failed to stop democratic decay but have allowed it to metastasize. His course of treatment is bold and bitter, but indispensable for the survival of democracy in Europe." -- Paul Magnette, President of the Socialist Party, Belgium "In the burgeoning literature on the EU's role in policing democracy in its member states, Theuns's book stands out as one of the most valuable additions, for its impeccable methodology, breadth and critical-reflective analysis. No one who cares about democracy in Europe-and who does not?-can ignore this formidable work." -- Wojciech Sadurski, Challis Professor of Jurisprudence, University of Sydney "Theuns strikes a nerve when he qualifies the European institutions' approach to democracy as depoliticized, technocratic and legalistic. No quick fixes, but provoking food for thought for all who seek an effective approach to stop democratic backsliding in the EU." -- Judith Sargentini, former member of the European Parliament (2009-2019) "By far the best work on the EU's "rule of law crisis". Theuns puts the focus where it should be, on how to restore democracy rather than just on how to punish legal violations."-- Kim Lane Scheppele, Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Sociology and International Affairs, Princeton University "This important book distils key lessons from the decade-long struggle against autocratization in Hungary and Poland and lays out an ambitious program for what the EU could and should do now." -- László Andor, Secretary General, Foundation for European Progressive Studies, and former EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (2010-2014) "An utterly persuasive and highly original demonstration of the EU's often incoherent and contradictory responses to democratic backsliding. A lesson in applied democratic theory and immanent critique." -- Colin Hay, Professor of Political Sciences, Sciences Po Paris "No country should ever be expelled from the European Union, in my view, but Tom Theuns advances this controversial position with erudition and verve that make Protecting Democracy in Europe indispensable." -- Stefan Auer, Professor of European Studies, University of Hong Kong, and author of European Disunion "For all those concerned with the dangers of democratic back-sliding in Europe, Tom Theuns book comes as a major contribution on the issue. It offers deep insights into the EU's failures to address member states" authoritarian drift. It also provides innovative ideas of potential solutions by using practice-dependent political theorizing to illuminate not only what the EU has done but also what it ought to do." -- Vivien A. Schmidt, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration, Professor Emerita, Boston University "A bold and yet subtle addition to the literature on the question how the EU should react to Member States moving in an autocratic direction. The careful analysis of a possible expulsion mechanism is particularly welcome." -- Jan-Werner Müller, Roger Williams Straus Professor of Social Sciences, Princeton University, and author of What is Populism? "In Protecting Democracy in Europe, Theuns looks at how the EU can tackle democratic backsliding in its member states. Using political theory and real-world examples, he explores current challenges and calls for reforms to defend democracy in this pivotal moment for Europe. -- Elena Sánchez Nicolás, Managing Editor, EUobserver