Civil society and the reconstitution of democracy in Europe: Introducing a new research field

The article maps new developments in the interdisciplinary research field of European civil society. From the angle of the reconstitution of democracy in the EU, it reviews recent contributions from political science, sociology and law. All share the concern with the pervading empowerment of the institutions of European multi-level governance. But each approaches the question of the democratizing and legitimizing potential of civil society beyond the state from a different vantage point, indicating competing conceptions of European civil society that draw on deliberative, participatory or representative democratic norms. It is argued that the EU-constitutional experience has sharpened the ambivalence between top down activating or “partnership” approaches vs. bottom up mobilizing or “social constituency” approaches to the construction of European civil society. These new tensions in the concept of a European civil society are currently manifested in the upholding of its civic-cosmopolitan promises and a more nuanced view of its contentious role against uncivil practices.