“Roll-Call Votes and Party Discipline in the European Parliament: Reconsidering MEP Voting Behavior”

Carrubba, Clifford and Gabel, Matthew. (1999) “Roll-Call Votes and Party Discipline in the European Parliament: Reconsidering MEP Voting Behavior” . In European Union Studies Association (EUSA) > Biennial Conference > 1999 (6th), June 2-5, 1999, pages 36, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Abstract

Over the past ten years, possibly the most dramatic institutional development in the European Union (EU) has been the augmentation of the legislative powers of the European Parliament (EP). Until 1987 the EU legislative process required only that the EP be consulted before the council of Ministers decided EU legislation. Since then the Single European Act, the Maastricht Treaty, and the Amsterdam Treaty have created and gradually expanded a more powerful legislative role for the EP. Indeed, for a broad range of policy areas, the EP can now exercise a legislative veto. Consequently, understanding the decisions of the EP on legislative proposals is crucial to explaining the legislative process and legislative outcomes in the EU. In particular, we need to understand the voting behavior of Members of the European Parliament.