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Product Description Contributors to this volume address important issues about the terms of representation in politics beyond the state. If the traditional structures of the national state no longer are the ideal or sole "container" of political life, how can we ensure that interests and demands can have access to decision-making? On the one hand, new opportunities may open up for parts of civil society whose previous access to political power was circumscribed. The central focus of the volume is on the extent to which governance, and all it implies for new forms of governing, addresses as well as raises issues about the legitimate basis for democratic rule beyond the boundaries of the state.

Product Details Hardcover: 176 pages Publisher: Manchester University Press (September 4, 2007) Language: English ISBN-10: 0719075068 ISBN-13: 978-0719075063

Abstract:      The concept of 'civil society' has been rediscovered in contemporary discourses concerning the relationship between democracy and governance. This paper analyses this rediscovery in the more specific context of the European Commission's 2001 White Paper on European Governance. However, processes of transnationalisation, governmentalisation and autonomisation may compromise much of the potential of 'European civil society' as an intermediating sphere of social action. By reinforcing these processes, the White Paper undermines the normative claims made for a civil society premised upon the voluntary nature of its associative forms and its distinctive open, communicative and deliberative rationality.

EUROPEAN CITIZEN ACTION SERVICE (ECAS) - empowering civil society with the European Union. An association about action as much as information, creating balance between public interest and corporate lobbying. Its work centers on 3 "C's": Civil Society Citizens' Rights Citizenship and Governance

In the aftermath of the Irish 'no' to the Lisbon Treaty, European institutions are yet again confronted with their failure to communicate the benefits of Europe with citizens, Commission Vice-President Margot Wallström and Parliament Vice President Alejo Vidal-Quadras told EurActiv on two separate occasions.

The Commission Vice President also stressed the role of new technologies. “In France, people suddenly realised the importance of the internet during the [French 2005] referendum. I'll keep talking about using the internet more, but traditional leaders are used to traditional channels."