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LegislaUve politics: toward bitum eraism.

Legislative behaviour - i.e. the ways in wliich legislators vote

Legislative organization - the ways in which legislatures organize their business

Eiironean Parli ment Legislative behaviour

*    The Best predictor of MEP voting behaviour in an MEPs ‘party group’ with the vaiious party groups demonstrating extraordinamly high measutes of cohension in roll-call votes. These MEP’s were show to contess elections and cast their votes in a two-dimansional ‘issue space’, including not only the familiar nationalism. supranationalism dimension but also morę traditional dimension of left-right contenstation EPas a normal parliament’.

*    Decision-Making in the European Union (DEU) - R.Thomason - relative Power of EU member States in the Council; tlie coalition patterns among member States witliin the Council (which appear to break downn largely on geographical Or North -Soutli lines); the Council’s traditions of consensus decision-making, Rather dian minimum-winning coalitions; and the as-yet uneven evidence for the socialization of nańonal ofhcials in the Council and its subsidiary committees and working groups.

*    Inter-institutional relations among the Comission (as agenda-setter) and Ute Council and Parliament, under different legislańves procedures. Between 1980s - 1990s the legislative powers of the EP have grown, from reladvely Modest and non-binding consultation procedurę’ to creation and reform of a ‘co-decision procedurę’. The institutional Power and impast of the Ep on legislative outcomes has grown substantinally over time wityh die move from consulation to cooperation to the two different versions of co-decision in the Maastricht and Amsderdam Treaties.

Executive politics: delegation and discretion

The European Commission The European Central Bank EU agencies

Trans action-cost accounts of delegation argue that member-state principal, as national actors, delegate powers to supernational organizations primarily to Lower trans action costs of Policy ma king, in particular by allowing member govemments to commit themselves credibly to international agreements and to benefit from the Policy-relevant expertise provided by supernational actors.