Sovereignty, democracy and constitutions: finding the right formula

Abstract

... As the EU increases its fields of action, and asserts itself more on the global stage, it is fuelling an increasing amount of soul-searching and debate in Europe. Does the EU suffer from a democratic deficit? What are the implications for national sovereignty? Will a written constitution bestow greater popular legitimacy? These are serious questions, and the answers may have even more serious implications. My own view, as I shall argue later, is that Europe can learn lessons from Australia’s own growing pains. After all, you tackled more than a century ago many of the debates that we in Europe are launching today. The question of sovereignty, and how it is gained or lost, can often seem the slipperiest of them all.