Democratic Basis

Abstract

This chapter concerns the relationship between contract law and democracy. The central question is whether contract law, in order to be legitimate, must have a democratic basis, and what this would entail. This leads to a normative institutional comparison between legislators, courts, legal academics, and economic-sectoral experts as the protagonists in contract law making. In addition, beyond the matter of institutional choice, the question of democratic legitimacy may lead to the question of whether there are any limits as to the kind of reasons (‘public reasons’) that can justify the law, in our case European contract law.