“Democratic Constitution” in Europe. On the interrelationship of European and national democratic history from the 1970s to the 1990s
 

The research project, funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation from May 2025, will examine negotiation processes surrounding the “democratic constitution” of institutional Europe from the 1970s to the 1990s. The starting point is the tension between the demand for a democratically constituted Europe and the different national experiences of democracy, constitutional traditions, and claims to sovereignty. The intertwining of European and national democratic histories will be analyzed in three case studies. The individual projects deal with (1) the relationship between the democratic ideals of the German Basic Law and the dynamics of Europeanization, using the example of the European judgments of the Federal Constitutional Court, (2) the significance of security policy debates as a driving force behind European constitutionalization, and (3) the EC and EU accession applications of post-dictatorial states as a catalyst for an intensified debate on a “democratic Europe.” The concept of “democratic constitution” will be tested as a heuristic probe and substantive bracket, aiming at the formalized interplay of ideas and practices, institutions and norms through which democracy is negotiated as a conceptual order. The progress of the research will be presented at regular working meetings, annual workshops, and a final conference.

Project directors: Prof. Dr. Vanessa Conze (Eichstätt-Ingolstadt), Prof. Dr. Silke Mende (Münster), Prof. Dr. Marcus M. Payk (Hamburg)

Researchers: Tom Binner, Moritz Meier, Anika Zimmermann