Government-opposition dynamics in the European Union: The Santer Commission resignation crisis

Abstract.  This article seeks to shed light on the sources of government-opposition dynamics in the European Union (EU). It considers the ideological left-right divide and the sovereignty-integration dimension as potential sources of a government-opposition cleavage in the EU, as well as a 'representation dimension'. The empirical evaluation of these propositions is based on a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the political crisis leading to the collective resignation of the Santer Commission. The article finds that government-opposition dynamics in the EU are related to the sovereignty-integration dimension of EU politics and to representation in EU executive institutions, rather than a left-right divide. Both political beliefs and opportunistic motivations determine government-support and opposition in the EU.     

Rapporteur-shadow rapporteur networks in the European Parliament: The strength of small numbers

Specialisation and delegation of policy leadership within committees is the norm rather than the exception in legislatures around the world. Yet, little research has studied the sub-groups of lawmakers who serve as policy leaders on particular bills. This article uses conceptual and methodological tools from social network analysis to investigate the groups’ composition and relational structure. It tests the proposition that limited human resources lead lawmakers from small parties to more frequently engage with a greater number of colleagues from other parties across a wider range of policy areas. This may have important relational benefits that have the potential to outweigh the structural disadvantages of small party size. The article examines whether small party lawmakers participate more, are more central and have greater potential for brokerage in policy-making networks, or if the constraints associated with small party size and/or particular ideological leanings prevent their realisation. Empirically, the analyses focus on working relationships between rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs in the adoption of reports by standing committees of the 7^th European Parliament, 2009–2014. Methodologically, a mixed methods approach is employed. The quantitative analyses show that small party size does not affect legislators’ participation in policy-making networks, but that it increases legislators’ centrality and brokerage potential. Regarding ideology, being committed to democratic participation as a good in itself has a positive association with all three outcomes, while attitudes to European integration show no effect. The qualitative data suggest that the relational benefits of belonging to a small party partially mitigate the structural disadvantages associated with it. They also indicate that policy making in the European Parliament is quite inclusive, as any systematic exclusion tends to be the result of self-marginalisation.     

The Contingent Diffusion of Parliamentary Oversight Institutions in the European Union

What explains the variation in institutional adaptation of national parliaments to European integration? Whereas the existing literature has mainly focused on domestic conditions, this article explains institutional adaptation to integration by focusing on inter‐parliamentary diffusion. The argument draws on ‘learning’ mechanisms of diffusion on the demand side and on ‘emulation’ mechanisms on the supply side. Parliamentary demand for external inspiration is related to uncertainty about functional oversight institutions, and the selection of sources to perceptions of similarity and success. Demand arises in new European Union member parliaments and young democracies that then turn towards culturally alike countries and old democracies. Using spatial econometrics, support is demonstrated for the argument in the article while ruling out alternative diffusion mechanisms such as spatial proximity and learning from Scandinavian frontrunners once links along cultural similarity and democratic experience are controlled for. The results underline the limits of the ‘isolated polity’ approach in the comparative study of institutions in Europe's closely integrated political system, while also showing that, even in this favourable environment, diffusion pathways are contingent on the mechanisms generating demand among policy makers and shaping their selection of sources for external information.     

Editor's Introduction

The theoretical and political principles related to construction of the state and the further strenthening of socialist democracy elaborated in the Draft Party Program represent a new phase in the development of the Marxist-Leninist doctrine on the state and law.     

Editor's Introduction

The Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee takes note that during the year that has elapsed since the 22nd Congress of the CPSU our country has achieved major successes both in its internal affairs and in the international arena. The decisions of the Congress and the new Party Program have proved to be powerful accelerators of social development, and have stimulated the activity of the working masses for peace, democracy and socialism.     

Editor's Introduction

The future of socialism and of the former Soviet Union is the unifying theme of this issue of Russian Politics and Law. Swedish sociologist Per Månson asks whether the historic events of 1989-91 toll the death knell of the entire era of socialism or whether they signify the end merely of the Soviet variant of an otherwise viable ideology. Any answer to this question largely depends on whether the observer regards the former Soviet Union as having been a deformation of "genuine" socialism rather than its very embodiment. Månson believes the USSR was a caricature of real socialism, which, he argues, requires democratic control of the economy, not state control. Although Månson provides an excellent summary of the contradictions of social democracy, he does not explore in depth the posited distinction between "democratic" and "state" control of the economy in a democratic state.     

Editor's Introduction

The regular 22nd Congress of the CPSU held in October 1961 summarized the results of the enormous activities of the Party and the Soviet people. A grandiose plan for the building of communist society in our country was set forth in the Program adopted by the Congress and in the decisions of the Congress.