Democratic legitimacy [glossary]

A political institution is legitimate when it succeeds in persuading people of the normative necessity of its existence. In a democratic system, this can be based both on various forms of popular consent (democratic legitimacy) and on other kinds of foundations (generic legitimacy). With reference to the European Union, debates have focused on empirical support for the EU, the nature of its "democratic deficit", and the potential conflict between European integration and national democratic sovereignty