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Cahill, Maria --- "Subverting sovereignty’s voluntarism: pluralism and subsidiarity in cahoots" [2018] ELECD 385; in Davies, Gareth; Avbelj, Matej (eds), "Research Handbook on Legal Pluralism and EU Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018) 22

Book Title: Research Handbook on Legal Pluralism and EU Law

Editor(s): Davies, Gareth; Avbelj, Matej

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781786433084

Section: Chapter 3

Section Title: Subverting sovereignty’s voluntarism: pluralism and subsidiarity in cahoots

Author(s): Cahill, Maria

Number of pages: 17

Abstract/Description:

Sovereignty’s lingering commitment to voluntarism and the limitations of the voluntarist approach are exposed by the crisis of authority represented by contradictory claims to ultimate authority on the part of the Court of Justice and national courts. While it is uncontroversial to assert that both pluralism and subsidiarity pose significant challenges to state sovereignty, this chapter argues that pluralism and subsidiarity threaten sovereignty not only because they allow for the reallocation of authority to institutions other than those of the nation state, but also because they call into question sovereignty’s fundamental assumption that authority is dominated by will, to the neglect of countervailing considerations. They offer solutions to this crisis of authority which finally tackle the problem of voluntarism, by deflecting focus away from the will and towards the good (higher moral principles), towards reasoned dialogue and towards a spirit of cooperation.