Demos-cracy for the European Union

The European Union (EU) has become a community of citizens whose fates are massively affected by socioeconomic institutions they share in common. For this reason, the European Union will need to be governed not quite like a nation—which it will never be—but far more like a nation than like a mere international organization (IO)—which it no longer is and will never be again. That is, it should be governed far less through bargaining between member-states and far more through arguing between citizens and their representatives. This requires strengthening a common demos through such means as the pan-European election of some members of the European Parliament and the democratization of English as a lingua franca, while never losing sight of the fragmented nature of this demos. In this respect, the Swiss model should provide, if not guidance, at least inspiration.