歐洲聯盟超國家民主實踐之再思考

Rethinking Supranational Democracy in the European Union

盧倩儀(Chien-yi Lu)

《台灣政治學刊》 21卷1期 (2017/06) Pp. 1-49

https://doi.org/10.6683/TPSR.201706.21(1).1-50

摘要

在「世界是平的」的二十一世紀，民主政治陷入困境，近乎舉世皆然。然而在歐洲，民主政治的演化多了一項中介變數。民主政治在歐洲的演變過程裡，歐洲聯盟扮演了何種角色？歐盟的存在，是使「人民作主」的實踐更為穩固了？還是反而使其受到侵蝕了？以「民主的體現包含輸入端（由人民決定誰主政）與輸出端（政策產出及政策結果讓人民受惠）；同時歐洲超國家層次的民主實踐其存在意義是後者而非前者」為前提，本文檢視1980年代末歐洲整合再出發之背景、驅動力量、制度設計邏輯，及歐盟創立以來之運作，評估歐盟的存在是使「人民作主」的實踐更為穩固了還是受到了侵蝕。文章發現，1980年代以來的歐洲整合是將民主政治「新自由主義化」的重要步驟，導致了財富向頂端集中，不僅破壞了歐洲原本引以為傲的社會安全與社會福利系統，亦嚴重侵蝕了民主政治在國內層次運行的基礎。

關鍵字

歐洲聯盟 ； 民主 ； 新自由主義 ； 凱因斯經濟學 ； 歐債危機

並列摘要

That democracy is faced with great challenges in the 21st Century where the world is flat is more or less a universal phenomenon. Whatever the causes of this conundrum are, the evolution of democracy has encountered a unique intervening variable in Europe, namely, deeper economic and political integration. What role does the EU play in the evolution of democracy in Europe? Has the existence of the EU reinforced or undermined the goal of “government by the people”? This article assumes that democracy is embodied in two components, namely, an input component (participation by the people) and an output component (outcomes for the people). It further assumes that the establishment of the EU is aimed at improving the latter, i.e., the output end of democratic performance. Based on these assumptions, this article examines the background, the key driving forces, the logic behind the institutional design, and the actual practices of policy-making in the Union, and finds that the relaunching of European integration that took place in the mid-80s was a crucial step towards the neoliberalization of democracy, resulting in severe income inequality, a breakdown of the social security and social welfare systems that the Europeans used to pride themselves in, and an erosion of the foundation for democracy even at the national level.

並列關鍵字

European Union ； democracy ； neoliberalism ； Keynesianism ； Euro-debt crisis

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