Europe, and indeed much of the world, is facing a crisis of democracy. The economic crisis is not the cause of public unrest; rather it has provided an opportunity to bring public concerns about the way they are governed into the open.

Eurobarometer figures show a pervasive loss of trust in government and in political parties in all European countries. More than half the population, and in some cases 80-90%, do not trust their government or political parties. The slogan of the Spanish indignados ‘Real Democracy Now’ implies that formal representative democracy no longer is able to meet the aspiration of citizens. What this means is that the economic crisis cannot be solved without addressing the democratic deficit and vice versa. Without a rethinking of democracy our economic problems will not go away.

Read Here – The European