Democratic politics in the European Parliament /

Democratic politics in the European Parliament /

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Hix, Simon.
Imprint:	Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Description:	1 online resource (xvi, 242 pages) : illustrations
Language:	English
Series:	Themes in European governance Themes in European governance.
Subject:	European Union. European Parliament. European Parliament. European Union. Legislative power -- European Union countries. Legislators -- European Union countries. Legislative power. Legislators. European Union countries.
Format:	E-Resource Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11830464

Hidden Bibliographic Details
Other authors / contributors:	Noury, Abdul. Roland, Gérard, 1954-
ISBN:	9780511279232 051127923X 0511278632 9780511278631 9786610850464 6610850461 1107172187 9781107172180 1280850469 9781280850462 0511491956 9780511491955 0511321627 9780511321627 9780521872881 052187288X 9780521694605 0521694604 0511277466 9780511277467 0511278055 9780511278051
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-234) and index. English. Print version record.
Summary:	With the European Parliament comprising politicians from many different countries, cultures, languages, national parties and institutional backgrounds, one might expect politics in the Parliament to be highly-fragmented and unpredictable. By studying more than 12,000 recorded votes between 1979 and 2004 this 2007 book establishes that the opposite is in fact true: transnational parties in the European Parliament are highly cohesive and the classic 'left-right' dimension dominates voting behaviour. Furthermore, the cohesion of parties in the European Parliament has increased as the powers of the Parliament have increased. The authors suggest that the main reason for these developments is that like-minded MEPs have incentives to form stable transnational party organizations and to use these organizations to compete over European Union policies. They suggest that this is a positive development for the future of democratic accountability in the European Union.
Other form:	Print version: Hix, Simon. Democratic politics in the European Parliament. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2007 9780521872881

Table of Contents:

Development of the European Parliament
Democracy, transaction costs and political parties
Ideological not territorial politics
Participation
Trends in party cohesion
Agenda setting and cohesion
Who controls the MEPS?
Competition and coalition formation
Dimensions of politics
Investiture and censure of the Santer Commission
The takeover directive.