2. Politicisation, Politics and Democracy

In this chapter, I aim at conceptualising politicisation and its relation to two other key concepts in Political Science: politics and democracy. I discuss a number of crucial theoretical and conceptual questions related to the understanding and usage of politicisation in general, and European Union (EU) politicisation in particular, setting a special focus on the theoretical and conceptual linkages between politicisation, politics and democracy. My argument is based on the presumption that politicisation needs to be understood as a multilevel concept that covers the theoretical and normative macro level, a conceptual meso level and an operational or empirical micro level. The chapter is split into the following parts: in the first section, I outline key questions and theoretical steps that are related to conceptualising politicisation and its linkages to the concept of politics. I shall discuss two ideal-typical conceptions of politics, that is, (1) an understanding of politics as a system, field or sphere and (2) an understanding of politics as action. In the remainder of the chapter, I base my reflections on an action-oriented understanding of politics and politicisation, arguing that politics and politicisation potentially can take place anywhere and anytime. In the second section, I shall discuss the normative-theoretical question if, and to what extent, a concept of politicisation as action is compatible with representative democracy: if politicisation is action, then politicisation can be both democratic and anti-democratic action, and the ensuing question is how democracies react to this challenge. In the third section, I discuss existing and possible interrelations between politicisation and democracy in the EU. I conclude with a typology of four types of interrelations between politicisation and democracy and a research outlook.