1\. Introduction 5 2\. EU Legitimizing Mechanisms: Output, Input and
Throughput 6 3\. Output Legitimacy 11 3.1 Institutional Regulatory Output 11
3.2 Constructive Discursive Output 13 4\. Input Legitimacy 16 4.1
Institutional Representative Input 16 4.2 Constructive Deliberative Input 18
5\. Throughput Legitimacy 20 5.1 Institutional Pluralist Throughput 21 5.2
Institutional Rules-Based Throughput 22 5.3 Constructive Deliberative
Throughput 24 6\. Conclusion: Input, Output and Throughput as Democratic
Trilemma or Virtuous Circule? 26 Literature 28Whether their analytic frameworks focus on institutional form and practices or
on its interactive construction, scholars have analyzed the EU’s democratic
legitimacy mainly in terms of the trade-offs between the output effectiveness
of EU’s policies outcomes for the people and the input participation by and
representation of the people. Missing is theorization of the “throughput”
efficiency, accountability, transparency, and openness to consultation with
the people of the EU’s internal governance processes. The paper argues that
adding this analytic category facilitates assessment of these legitimizing
mechanisms’ interdependencies and facilitates consideration of reforms that
could turn this democratic trilemma into a “virtuous circle”
