Policy Influence and Participation in the European Parliament

Abstract

participate more in parliamentary votes. In addition to the impact of other variablesincluding the timing of votes, leadership cues, and the requirement that an absolute majority of members vote at certain stages-EP members are stimulated to participate more in votes on legislation where the EP's influence is greater. The implications of this result for legislative theory, and for our understanding of the EP, are discussed in the conclusion. How important are legislatures to the governing process? In the 25 years since Jean Blondel called for more serious comparative study to answer this question, our understanding has advanced considerably (Blondel 1970). While legislatures are ubiquitous, their influence in the policy process varies greatly across political systems, both in quantity and in type.' A curiosity, however, is that a related and equally basic question remains unanswered. Despite numerous reminders from the new institutionalists that institutions can shape the behavior of political actors, we know almost nothing about whether the policy influence of a legislature affects the behavior of its members. Several studies suggest that legislative influence is positively related to membership retention: members are more likely to remain when they see there is important work to be done (Hibbing and Moore 1991; Shepsle 1988). But the more basic issue, how members of the legislature respond to the institution's policy influence when they are actually there, has been almost entirely neglected.2 This oversight is hardly trivial. A basic task of political science is to understand the motives and behavior of important political actors. Given that influence over policy is one of a legislature's defining characteristics, the response of its membership to the institution's level of policy influence is of fundamental significance. Understanding this response is central to developing an adequate theory of legislative behavior.