European democracy
#TheFutureIsYours Strengthening European democracy
In order to protect democracy the president of the European Commission should be voted by the people of the EU. Right now, this is not the case and not very democratic.
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No, it is not comparable in any way. In a parliament with 500 members, for example, you will find all kinds of political currents, and when government decisions are made, the arguments of the opposition are also discussed and incorporated into decisions. In the position of president, power is concentrated in one person and the opinions and arguments of the opposition are drowned out.
A president with great power increases the division of society and the democratic participation of the opposition and minorities suffers. Democracy is not the dictatorship of the majority!
I agree with your criticism of concentrating too much power to one individual; however I don't think that merely electing a person gives him or her any additional power. As long as the president of the commission remains accountable to the parliament I don't think it matters much how she is elected.
I do think however, that the election would have a positive impact on the political discourse. People like to vote for individuals rather than faceless platforms, and during the campaign there would be multiple candidates explaining their views so the minority arguments wouldn't be drowned out.
Jamo Jakonen: "I do think however, that the election would have a positive impact on the political discourse."
I deeply disagree!
Political discourse should be about political content and not about people. How should 450 million citizens be able to know a cabdidate well enough? I don't know my closest friends well enough to let them rule my life! Voting for a person instaed for a political party is always a way to vote for populism. A single candidate would always a streamlined artificial thing constructed by PR agencies.
Political parties channel political discourse. That is their job, and therefore it is right that we vote for political parties and not for individual candidates.
@tom_berger Thanks for your comment. You are not wrong: politics should indeed be about the content and not the people. Direct election wouldn't necessarily result in a more qualified president than now.
What I meant by improving political discourse was the windfall effect, if the election of the president was done at the same time as the European Parliament election. Currently the turnout in EP election is about 50%. Even less in some member states. The campaigns are carried out strictly on a national level. Having a face to vote for, and a person to follow could elevate the debate from national to an European level, and would be the psychological hook to get people interested on the issues and get out to vote.
It'd be like the Eurovison Song Contest, but for politics.
http://decidim-dife/Decidim::User/9285 I still disagree. Direct election would certainly result in a less qualified president than now. The direct election would bring people to the top with character traits that are rather undesirable, and creates a president who is just a puppet of the media oligarchs and/or of right-wing populist think tanks.
The low voter turnout at EU level is due to the fact that the EU has only marginal importance for many citizens. The EU is not a state. There will only be higher voter turnout if the EU has more influence over the daily lives of its citizens.
And the very last thing I want is for the EU election to be a kind of Eurovison Song Contest. If the EU ever moves in this direction, then I recommend my country to leave the EU.
@tom_berger The current method where council nominates the president does ensure some level of competence, but the system has a democratic deficit. Rather than populists, I'm afraid that the politicians in the parliament are going to continue to push themselves to the post via the Spitzenkandidat scheme. That would result in neither democratically elected nor competent candidates and would be worst of both worlds.
To me a good compromise might be an election in the parliament, but with open nomination of candidates, i.e. no pre-agreed lead candidates or (implicit) requirements that the president has to be a MEP.
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