Building the EU`s social constituency: exploring the dynamics of public claims-making and collective representation in Europe

最近起草的欧盟宪法提出了一个问题，即新兴的欧洲政体与其社会选民的关系。本质上，欧洲社会选民(政体的人民或公众)的根本关切在于欧洲作为一个民主国家的合理性和必要性。规范的预期是，一个既定的欧洲政体需要这样的示范，这被视为欧洲治理合法性的基础。经验问题是，这种将欧洲视为示范的规范性理念是否会在欧盟成员国的国界内外引导和指导集体行动和公共沟通。欧洲宪法制定了欧盟多层次体制框架内的民主和合法治理标准。这些宪法安排是如何与潜在欧洲公民的声音共同演变的？该项目的目的是对欧盟S的社会选民进行实证评估，并解释其在欧洲合法政治秩序演变中的作用。

The recently drafted constitution of the European Union raises the question of the relationship of the emerging European polity to its social constituency. In essence the underlying concern of a European social constituency ( the people or the public of the polity) lies in the plausibility and requisiteness of Europe as a demos . The normative expectation is that a constituted European polity requires such a demos, which is seen as the basis for the legitimacy of European governance. The empirical question is whether such a normative idea of Europe as a demos channels and guides collective action and public communication within and beyond the national boundaries of the EU-member states. The European constitution has set the Standards for democratic and legitimate governance within the multi-level institutional framework of the EU. How do these constitutional arrangements co-evolve with the voice of potential European citizens? The aim of the project is to empirically assess the EU¿s social constituency and explain its role in the evolution of a legitimate political order in Europe.