Political competition in the European Parliament: evidence from roll call and survey analyses

2004 ◽  
pp. 141-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques J. A. Thomassen ◽  
Abdul G. Noury ◽  
Erik Voeten
Keyword(s):  
Political Competition ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Roll Call ◽  
Survey Analyses

From "Grand Coalition" To Left-Right Confrontation

2003 ◽  
Vol 36 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 75-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amie Kreppel ◽  
Simon Hix
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Grand Coalition ◽  
Roll Call ◽  
Logistic Analysis

In this article, the authors address the rationalist-constructivist debate head on. They start by discussing a significant empirical phenomenon in contemporary EU politics: the changing pattern of political competition in the European Parliament (EP), from a "grand coalition" of the two main parties in the 1994-1999 EP, to a new structure of left-right competition in the 1999-2004 EP. The authors then illustrate how rational choice and constructivist assumptions offer competing explanations of this shift in the "culture of competition" in the EP, which in turn generate competing empirically testable hypotheses. These propositions are tested using a logistic analysis of more than 400 roll-call votes in a period from the 1994-1999 and the 1999-2004 parliament. The authors conclude that neither basic theoretical framework performs well and that the best explanation needs to incorporate assumptions from both frameworks.

Off the Record: Unrecorded Legislative Votes, Selection Bias and Roll-Call Vote Analysis

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 691-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
CLIFFORD J. CARRUBBA ◽  
MATTHEW GABEL ◽  
LACEY MURRAH ◽  
RYAN CLOUGH ◽  
ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Random Sample ◽  
Selection Bias ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Roll Call ◽  
General Study ◽  
Roll Call Vote ◽  
Legislative Voting ◽  
Sampling Problem ◽  
The Universe

Scholars often use roll-call votes to study legislative behaviour. However, many legislatures only conclude a minority of decisions by roll call. Thus, if these votes are not a random sample of the universe of votes cast, scholars may be drawing misleading inferences. In fact, theories over why roll-call votes are requested would predict selection bias based on exactly the characteristics of legislative voting that scholars have most heavily studied. This article demonstrates the character and severity of this sampling problem empirically by examining European Parliament vote data for a whole year. Given that many legislatures decided only a fraction of their legislation by roll call, these findings have potentially important implications for the general study of legislative behaviour.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Voting Behaviour of Czech Members of European Parliament in Areas of the Europe 2020 Strategy

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 37-50
Author(s):  
Ondřej Mocek
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Recent Decade ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
European Level ◽  
Roll Call ◽  
Europe 2020 ◽  
Europe 2020 Strategy ◽  
National Coalition ◽  
Members Of European Parliament ◽  
Research Period

Abstract Aim of this paper is to analyse the behaviour of Czech MEPs in the topics related to Europe 2020 Strategy. This Strategy is one of the most important documents of recent decade on the European level and it is not so often studied on the level of the European Parliament. The purpose of this text is to find out if Czech political parties in the European Parliament are cohesive or not. The second question is related to the voting patterns, whether Czech MEPs create some kind of voting coalitions or not and if these coalitions reflect the national coalition. Methodology is based on the analyses of roll-call votes. The research period is the first two years of the 8th term of the European Parliament.

scholarly journals Is there a selection bias in roll call votes? Evidence from the European Parliament

Public Choice ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 176 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 211-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Hix ◽  
Abdul Noury ◽  
Gerard Roland
Keyword(s):  
Selection Bias ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Roll Call

scholarly journals Power to the Parties: Cohesion and Competition in the European Parliament, 1979–2001

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
SIMON HIX ◽  
ABDUL NOURY ◽  
GÉRARD ROLAND
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Total Population ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Roll Call ◽  
Party Cohesion ◽  
The Impact

How cohesive are political parties in the European Parliament? What coalitions form and why? The answers to these questions are central for understanding the impact of the European Parliament on European Union policies. These questions are also central in the study of legislative behaviour in general. We collected the total population of roll-call votes in the European Parliament, from the first elections in 1979 to the end of 2001 (over 11,500 votes). The data show growing party cohesion despite growing internal national and ideological diversity within the European party groups. We also find that the distance between parties on the left-right dimension is the strongest predictor of coalition patterns. We conclude that increased power of the European Parliament has meant increased power for the transnational parties, via increased internal party cohesion and inter-party competition.

scholarly journals Understanding the Formation and Actions of Eurosceptic Groups in the European Parliament: Pragmatism, Principles and Publicity

2013 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Whitaker ◽  
Philip Lynch
Keyword(s):  
Formation Process ◽  
Group Formation ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Political Campaigns ◽  
Expert Judgement ◽  
Roll Call ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Niche Parties ◽  
The Uk

This article assesses why Eurosceptic national parties form groups in the European Parliament and examines in what ways two of these groups – the European Conservatives and Reformists and Europe of Freedom and Democracy – operate in the European Parliament. It draws on interviews with politicians and group officials, roll-call votes and expert judgement data. We look at the group formation process with a focus on the British Conservatives and UK Independence Party and find that the European Conservatives and Reformists group was created with a mixture of policy-seeking and party-management aims. The UK Independence Party's interest in the Europe of Freedom and Democracy group is largely on the basis of the group's provision of distinct practical advantages, such as resources for political campaigns. We provide evidence that hard Eurosceptic and regionalist niche parties in the European Parliament struggle to agree with each other in roll-call votes on a range of subjects. Finally, we show that the hard and soft Eurosceptic parties studied here go about policy-seeking in different ways in the European Parliament in line with their differing principles on the integration process.

scholarly journals Party Politics or (Supra-)National Interest? External Relations Votes in the European Parliament

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tapio Raunio ◽  
Wolfgang Wagner
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Group Cohesion ◽  
National Interest ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Development Aid ◽  
Roll Call ◽  
External Relations ◽  
Foreign And Security Policy

Abstract Parliamentary votes on foreign and security policy have often been demonstrations of patriotism and unity. This resonates with the notion that external relations are exempted from party politics, or that politics stops at the water's edge. Its supranational character makes the European Parliament (EP) a particularly interesting laboratory for subjecting this thesis to empirical scrutiny. Analyzing roll-call votes from 1979 to 2014, this article shows that group cohesion and coalition patterns are no different in external relations votes than in other issue areas. Members of the EP (MEPs) do not rally around a European Union flag, nor do MEPs vote as national blocs in votes on foreign and security policy, trade, and development aid. Based on statistical analyses and interviews with parliamentary civil servants, it concludes that the EP stands out by having party politics dominate all business, including external relations.

scholarly journals Analysis of political orientation and left-right party labelling in the European Parliament

Dela ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 103-127
Author(s):  
Miha Nahtigal
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Roll Call ◽  
Roll Call Vote ◽  
Party Positions ◽  
Liberal Position

This article explores the political parties in the 8th European Parliament on the basis of roll-call vote analysis. Besides the left-right divisions, we have also analysed the nationalist-globalist political cleavage. We have compared the resulting party positions with their left-right wing party labels. In addition, we have focused on inconsistencies and biased existing labels and the geopolitical interests connected with the current way of labelling. We have found out that the current way of left-right labelling privileges a globalist and liberal position, while some other political positions were not even represented. Finally, we have presented a new way of political labelling, which would also include a nationalist-globalist cleavage.

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