Liberal first, democratic second: Moving the EU from militant liberalism to supranational democratic defense

In response to the accession of the postcommunist states from Central-Eastern Europe (CEE), as well as the subsequent rise of illiberal democracy in this region, the EU has developed mechanisms of supranational democratic defense. As a result, recent scholarship has started to recognize the EU as a supranational militant democracy. I agree that the EU has certain militant characteristics. However, I argue that the EU is actually promoting a historically specific regime developed in Western Europe after 1945, which is liberal first and democratic second. Focusing on the illiberal challenge from CEE, I add to the literature on the varieties of constitutionalism and constitutional tolerance in Europe by arguing that the EU should adopt a more procedural, less substantive definition of democracy that takes the lessons of communism seriously. Building on Seyla Benhabib’s cosmopolitanism, I argue that the EU can overcome this divide by adopting a more flexible, sociologically informed approach that takes memory and the claims of culture into account. While I recognize the dangers of illiberal democracy, I conclude that liberal democratic principles can best be defended by respecting the basic disagreements over the constitutional foundations of democracy that exist in Europe today.