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This article argues that there exist four streams of democracy which underpin the recognition policy of the EU and its Member States. Recourse to the democratic idea is manifested when the EU and its Member States acknowledge either a) that the claimant people have a legal right to external self-determination; or b) that the people deserve statehood for moral grounds; or c) that the people concerned have reached a consensus with the Mother State regarding secession; or d) that the government has been committed to certain democratic values and standards (democracy par excellence). Recognition in the first three scenarios (streams) legitimizes people’s desire to self-rule (demos kratos) while in the fourth comes as an act which validates a specific form of rule i.e. democratic governance.
