Democratic Deficit: Institutions and Regulation in the European Union, Switzerland and the United States

by Thomas D. Zweifel

Is the European Union democratic? Much has been written claiming that the EU's institutions and policymaking processes are insufficiently accountable to, and representative of, the European electorate. In Democratic Deficit? , Thomas D. Zweifel offers a provocative new treatment of the concept of democracy in the EU. The work provides a rigorous, comparative examination of the European Union and the federal democracies of Switzerland and the United States. Drawing upon established, quantifiable scales of democracy, the study demonstrates that the EU's decision-making and regulatory processes do not show a democratic deficit greater than that of the bureaucracies of most liberal democracies and finds that in certain policy areas liberal democracies may even benefit from adopting EU practices. Supported by two case studies comparing regulatory policymaking in action across the three polities, Zweifel's work will prove to be a valuable and thought-provoking addition to the debate about European governance and the increasingly important role of transnational and supranational organizations.

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 13, 2002

About the author

It was a perfectly clear day in September 2001, an Indian-summer morning when the sky was deep blue. Thomas was sitting on the Brooklyn Promenade--alone except for a few runners and dog walkers--and reading Michel Houellebecq's Les Particules Élémentaires (this is not an endorsement of that book) when he looked up at 8:46 a.m. and saw something he had never seen before: A plane hit the World Trade Center. Smoke and millions of tiny metallic glitters were in the air; a light wind swept them toward him. The glitters turned out to be countless papers, documents flying across the East River. One of them was a page from a civil law book, blackened on all four sides. Another was a FedEx envelope with a contract that someone had just signed a few minutes earlier.

That moment changed Thomas' world, and his life, forever. He set out on a journey to himself. And he started to worry about what kind of legacy to leave. One answer: to write books that help leaders of all stripes build successful companies and/or lives.

Dr. Thomas D. Zweifel is is a board member, strategy and performance expert, TED speaker and award-winning author of 11 books, including "Strategy-In-Action" (with Edward J. Borey), "Communicate or Die," "The Rabbi and the CEO" (with Aaron L. Raskin) and "Gorilla in the Cockpit" (with Vip Vyas).

Since 1984, living in Europe, India, Japan, and the United States, Thomas has helped clients align on strategy, boost leadership, and build high-performance teams in the action of meeting strategic and/or breakthrough objectives.

From 1997 to 2011, Thomas was the CEO of Swiss Consulting Group, named a "Fast Company" by Fast Company magazine and awarded "Best of Business in New York for Management Consulting" by SBCA.

Strategies based on his books are used by 30+ Fortune 500 companies, the UN Development Programme, the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and the U.S. Air Force Academy, to help their teams meet strategic imperatives.

Since 2001, Thomas has taught leadership to 1,500+ students at Columbia University and St. Gallen University to prepare them for executive leadership positions.

He often appears in the media, including ABC News, Bloomberg TV, and CNN. A speaker for ten speaker bureaus, his interdisciplinary and action-packed keynotes inspire business leaders.

Born in Paris, Thomas was educated in Switzerland, Germany and the United States, and holds a Ph.D. in International Political Economy from New York University.

In 1996 he realized his dream of breaking three hours in the New York City Marathon, and in 1997 was recognized as "fastest CEO in the New York City Marathon." He lives in Zurich with his wife and their two daughters (and a dog called Motek, the only other man in the house).

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