Regional Participation in EU Policy-Making - Democratic Effects

The European Union and the discussion on its democratic deficit is the central theme to this thesis. Democracy is traditionally discussed based on the nation-state but here the debate on how democratic legitimacy can be achieved in a globalized society, where political issues transcend borders, is utilized. Regionalization is a central concept in globalization because it is transnational to its nature and sometimes by-passes the nation-state in its influence on EU policy-making. It is investigated whether the lobbying activities of regional offices can be democratically justified and the case of the South Sweden European Office is used for empirical observations. Further, the participation of regional offices suggests helping the democratic legitimacy of the European Union. This is investigated using a Multi-Level Governance approach together with a discussion on lobbying as a means of democratic participation