Committee Representation in the European Parliament

Journal article | Zeitschriftenartikel

The European Parliament (EP) possesses a highly specialized committee system, operating in a complex institutional and political environment, yet little empirical work has investigated how MEPs are assigned to EP committees and what consequences this process has for representation and policy-making. In this article I examine the growth of EP committees and committee membership since 1979, and address the question of whether these committees are representative of the EP as a whole. Using an original data set of committee membership, national and EP party affiliation, MEP characteristics, and MEP policy preferences derived from roll-call votes, I address three key questions: Does committee membership reflect the party group composition of the EP? Do committee members possess specialized expertise in their committees’ policy areas? And, finally, do committee members’ general or committee-specific policy preferences differ substantially from those of the overall Parliament? The results suggest very strongly that, although committee members do tend to possess policy-specific expertise, committees are, nonetheless, highly representative of the EP as a whole, in terms of both party and policy representation.

Angaben zum Objekt

• Umfang: Seite(n): 5-29
• Sprache: Englisch
• Anmerkungen: Status: Postprint; begutachtet (peer reviewed)

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: European Union Politics, 7(1)

Klassifikation und Themen

• Thema: Politikwissenschaft ; Europapolitik ; politische Willensbildung, politische Soziologie, politische Kultur

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): McElroy, Gail
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wo): Vereinigtes Königreich
• (wann): 2006

Weitere Informationen

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1465116506060910
• URN: urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-228941
• Rechteinformation: GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften. Bibliothek Köln
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 21.06.2024, 16:26 MESZ