Thomas Giegerich’s The Human Right to Democracy in Multilevel Systems at a Time of Democratic Backsliding: Global, Regional and European Union Perspectives is a carefully constructed, doctrinally grounded and theoretically ambitious exploration of democratic decline and the place of democracy as a legally cognisable human right. In an era when legal and political backsliding threaten not only democratic institutions but also the normative structures underpinning the international legal order, this book proposes a robust reengagement with democracy’s legal foundations. The book traverses international, regional and supranational regimes, offering both descriptive clarity and normative prescription.
The book consists of six chapters, progressively building a comprehensive argument that democracy is not only a foundational political value but an enforceable entitlement within public international law. Chapter 1 outlines the conceptual terrain—locating democracy at the intersection of human dignity, sovereignty and multilevel governance. Giegerich here situates the work in the context of the post-national legal order, where States no longer exercise unfettered sovereignty but are embedded within networks of legal and institutional constraints. Drawing on the work of Franck, Peters and others, the chapter elaborates on the decline of democratic momentum following the events of 1989, providing the book with a clear critical lens.
Chapters 2 to 4 examine the textual and institutional manifestations of democracy in global and regional legal regimes. In Chapter 2, Giegerich analyses United Nations General Assembly and Human Rights Council resolutions, identifying recurring principles such as transparency, accountability, participation and responsiveness as indicators of democratic essentials. He develops this further in Chapter 3 by anchoring democracy in the right to self-determination, interpreting it not solely in decolonial terms but as entailing substantive democratic governance. This is followed by an extensive mapping of human rights treaties (notably, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and regional instruments) in Chapter 4, reinforcing the author’s thesis that democratic rights are embedded across legal regimes and have evolved towards providing individual entitlements.
The intellectual core of the book lies in Chapter 5, which addresses the European Union (EU) as a paradigmatic but imperfect multilevel democracy. The author traces the EU’s legal development through the lens of democratic legitimacy—from the abortive European Political Community to the Treaty of Lisbon and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The discussion is meticulous in its assessment of both vertical and horizontal democratic mechanisms within the EU, as well as the legal obligations of Member States. Particular attention is paid to enforcement mechanisms (Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union, infringement proceedings and financial conditionality), demonstrating how legal tools have been developed to respond to democratic decline, albeit with inconsistent application.
Giegerich closes the book with a general conclusion that calls for using the ‘legal toolbox’ to defend democratic norms through judicial, political and civic action (239). The call is not utopian; the author is frank about the institutional and political limitations, but argues that democratic entitlements, if correctly interpreted and enforced, can act as a safeguard against authoritarian erosion.
The book targets a scholarly audience: legal academics, institutional lawyers and advanced students with a background in public international law and EU law. The architecture of its arguments and wide citation of doctrinal sources make it particularly relevant for those who have been trained in legal reasoning and jurisprudential evolution. At the same time, it is still accessible despite its density. Technical terms are defined with care, case law and treaty texts are cited directly and no assumption is made that the reader is already familiar with the subject-matter. Giegerich writes with a tone of intellectual modesty, building his book with care and avoiding rhetorical excess.
One of the most commendable features of the book is its historical sensitivity. The author does not treat democracy as a static concept, but rather traces its evolution through shifting legal and geopolitical landscapes—from the Cold War to the post-9/11 security era, and into the current climate of populist backlash. His legal argumentation is consistently enriched by contextual awareness, grounding theoretical claims in empirical trends and doctrinal practice.
However, there are certain lacunae in this book. While there are gestures toward global perspectives, the emphasis remains resolutely Eurocentric. The experiences and legal innovations of the Global South are mentioned but not substantively explored. Similarly, although the EU chapter is extraordinarily detailed, there is little engagement with either the lived experience of democratic degradation in certain Member States or with the role of civil society and non-State actors in democratic enforcement. These omissions, while understandable given the scope of the book, narrow the universality of its claims. What the book does convincingly argue is that democracy is not merely a political aspiration but a legal entitlement. In situating democratic governance within the legal order of multilevel systems, Giegerich provides a doctrinal foundation for resisting authoritarianism not only politically, but also legally. His emphasis on human dignity as the moral foundation of both human rights and democracy is a particularly persuasive strand that runs throughout the work.
In sum, this book is a significant contribution to contemporary scholarship on international legal order and democratic resilience. It is formalist in the best sense: principled, rigorous and forward-looking. Giegerich does not propose that law alone can save democracy, but he does demonstrate—carefully and convincingly—that law remains one of democracy’s most enduring defences.
