This book seeks to develop a new approach to EU legitimacy by reformulating the classical notion of constituent power for the context of European integration and challenging the conventional theoretical assumptions regarding the EU's ultimate source of authority.

Dr Markus Patberg is a research fellow in political theory at the University of Hamburg (UHH) where he is part of the DFG-funded project "Reclaiming Constituent Power? Emerging Counter-Narratives of EU Constitutionalisation". His research interests lie in the field of international political theory, with a particular focus on question of democracy and constitutionalism in the European Union. Prior to joining UHH, he was a research fellow at TU Darmstadt. He has held visiting positions at University College London and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

• Introduction: Reclaiming Constituent Power


• Part I: Setting the Stage


• 1: Why Constituent Power? European Integration and the Problem of Usurpation


• 2: Public Narratives of Constituent Power in the European Union


• Part II: Exploring Competing Models


• 3: Regional-Cosmopolitan Constituent Power


• 4: Demoi-cratic Constituent Power


• 5: Dual Constituent Power


• 6: Destituent Power


• Part III: Constructing a New Theory


• 7: Higher-Level Constituent Power: A New Conceptual Framework


• 8: Citizens All the Way Down: Rethinking the Dual Constituent Subject


• 9: Extraordinary Partisanship: The Problem of Political Agency


• 10: A Permanent Constitutional Assembly: An Institutional Proposal


• Conclusion: Constituent Power and the Future of the European Union