Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 12/2009

España frente el referéndum europeo: o de la democracia y sus debilidades

Yanina Welp

September 2009

CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política

Abstract

Spain facing the European referendum: or democracy and its weaknesses

One common criticism to the European integration process has been the deficit of democratic legitimacy. Direct consultation through referendum has been proposed as a mechanism to bridge this gap, however, there is a debate about the potentialities and risks of direct democracy. The aim of this paper is to contribute to this debate by analysing the Spanish experience of ratifying the European constitution (February 2005).