The burden of authorship

How Agenda-Setting and Electoral Rules Shape Legislative Behaviour

Bibliographic Data

ID6289166
AuthorsDaniel Finke (0000-0002-9028-8188, Aarhus University, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume23
Issue4
Pages604-623
Publication date2016-04-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of European Public Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1350-1763 • E-ISSN: 1466-4429
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13501763.2015.1059468
OpenAlexW1723408751
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited25

I study the effect of agenda-setting on voting behaviour in theEuropean Parliament. The straightforward expectation would be that members ofparliament are more likely to support their own group’s amendments. But what if national party leaders reject their group’s proposal. In this situation party leaders have strong incentives to reinforce party discipline because otherwise they stand to lose credibility in future negotiations. Hence, authorship ties voting behaviour to the bargaining stage by means of credible commitment. Yet, the effect of agenda-setting on voting behaviour is moderated by electoral rules. I argue that this interaction between agenda rules and electoral rules has significant implicationsfor the political representation in the European Parliament.Analysing voting data from the Sixth European Parliament, I find that the effect of authorship depends on the electoral rules. Members from open list systems avoid conflict with their party leaders by defecting on other groups’ proposals. Members from closed list systems are more likely to defect on their own group’s proposals, thereby confronting the party leadership. My results have important implications for the discussion on the democratic nature of the European Parliament

Economics · Law and economics · Legislature · Political science · Positive economics · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Public Administration

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