Governance, democracy and the European modernization agenda: A comparison of different policy initiatives

The search for new forms of governance has not been limited to the local and national levels. After the rapid expansion of both the number of members, and the areas of activities of the European Community during the second half of the twentieth century, European decision-making stagnated considerably. One of the most significant new forms of European governance that reflects the main shifts suggested in the introduction of this book is the Open Method of Coordination (OMC). Like many of the governance practices discussed in the previous chapters, the OMC is characterized by an unleashing of 'governing' from the traditional institutions of representative democracy. This becomes most visible when we look at the role of the only directly elected European institution, the European Parliament, which in the case of the OMC, is considerably marginalized. Yet, it would be precipitate to conclude that the method, as such, contravenes the need for more democratic legitimization.

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