Assessing democracy in a contested polity

After reviewing difficulties with the literature on the democratic deficit, this article concludes that a method is needed for assessing democracy in a political system where there is fundamental agreement on what would const itute adequately democratic institutions. It then goes on to explore two su ggestions for such a method: the development of well-specified indicators O f democratic performance for contrasting ideal-types of Euro-democracy; and the attribution of self- and peer assessments to institutional actors with competing perspectives on democratic standards in the EU.