"The Maastricht Treaty reactivated a long-term debate about the future of the European Union. Does it still make sense to talk of the 'sovereign state', or is power now moving upwards in the direction of a political union and downwards to a regional level? What are the implications of such trends for democracy? Controversy over what is happening and what should happen has engulfed the whole European Union. Yet the arguments are often conducted polemically, and both information and concepts are distorted."--BOOK JACKET. "This book counters misrepresentation by both 'Eurosceptics' and 'Euro-enthusiasts' by examining the issues involved in the sovereignty debates. Written in an accessible style, it examines key questions in democracy, drawing on both traditional concepts of political thought and empirical evidence to elucidate the current situation. It offers critical insights into the EU, and some of the arguments frequently used in its defence. But it rejects the nationalist opposition, and presents a case for a democratic EU which would be worthy of support."--BOOK JACKET. "Specialists, students and all those interested in the future of the European Union will find this a challenging critique of conventional analysis, which provides sufficient information for readers to form their own conclusions."--BOOK JACKET.