Publisher's Synopsis
This volume is the result of a series of four events (three workshops and a final presentation) which the Austrian Institute for European Law and Policy organized from October 2011 to March 2012 in Brussels as "open dialogue" within the meaning of Article 11 (2) TEU. The book's contributions are a representative sample of the statements of participants of the workshops (mostly panelists, but including a few members of the audience) and therefore show the different perspectives of actors in the "dialogue" at issue. Additionally, the editors thought it appropriate to add some reflections of a more scientific kind in order to give a fuller picture of the notion and implications of "democracy," particularly in the European context. This includes the written versions of two speeches delivered at a conference in Salzburg where the topic of "European Democracy" is closely linked to the workshops' subject. Also included is a contribution on the state of e-governance in Japan, allowing an assessment, by comparison, of a country outside Europe with similar political, cultural, and economic backgrounds. This demonstrates how new and ambitious the aim of Article 11 (2) TEU really is. Finally, the editors offer a preliminary evaluation of the outcome of the workshops.
