Demokratiesicherung in der Europäischen Union

Developments in several member states are putting democracy in the EU under increasing pressure with countries such as Hungary and Poland demonstrating shifts towards totalitarian regimes. This volume analyses existing response mechanisms and previous EU interventions as well as solutions proposed in recent academic literature. In particular though, it also addresses the previously underestimated problem of how the EU could intervene and legitimately protect member state democracies from slipping towards authoritarianism. The central criterion suggested by the authors is to guard against potential future majorities: how a democracy is fairing could thus be determined by how much leeway is afforded to political minorities enabling them to become majorities. The three mainstays of this criterion are free elections, freedom of the press, and judicial independence.