Sovereignty is a modern idea “invented” to justify monarchical rule. It evolved into a janus-faced political concept attributed to the state in international relations and, as a result of democratic revolutions, to the people. Rousseau’s verdict that people’s sovereignty can neither be divided nor represented vanished as representative democracy largely prevailed theoretically and practically. However, the cleavage between the two approaches subterraneously persists and is enhanced in the EU as member states’ “pooling of sovereignty” comes with multiple organs of representation of national sovereigns who challenge their further division between different levels of governance, but also their inability to directly voice their interests. Exploring the theoretical clash between direct and representative democracy, the paper will interpret the discourses unfolding during the EP elections 2014 in the light of this discussion.
