"Strength in numbers? Representation and redistribution in the European Union"

Rodden, Jonathan. (2001) "Strength in numbers? Representation and redistribution in the European Union". In: UNSPECIFIED, Madison, Wisconsin. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The European Union should provide an especially useful case for comparative analysis. Small states are rather severely over-represented in both legislative chambers, and allegiances to federation-wide political parties that might cut against pure regional self-seeking are absent. Moreover, although not as dramatic as in the United States, frequent reapportionment associated with successive enlargements allows for the examination of changes over time. The next section introduces some data on legislative malapportionment, placing European institutions in a comparative context. The third section explains why a link between representation and redistribution might exist in the first place, and makes some specific arguments about the European Union. The fourth section analyzes the distribution of agricultural and regional development expenditures, total expenditures, and net transfers. Like the other studies cited above, it examines the effect of representation by examining votes per capita in both legislative chambers. Unlike other studies, it also uses indices of voting power. The final section discusses implication, conclusions, and avenues for further research.

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