Representing Europe's Citizens? Electoral Institutions and the Failure of Parliamentary Representation

by Farrell, David M.; Scully, Roger

• ISBN13: 9780199285020
• ISBN10: 0199285020
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-07-12
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The past 15 years have seen declining public support for European integration, and widespread suggestions that a legitimacy crisis faces the European Union (EU). Many in the EU have believed that this problem could be effectively tackled by vesting greater powers in the European Parliament (EP), the Union's only directly-elected institution. The central argument of this book is that, while considerable efforts have been made to increase the status of the EP, it is in crucial respects a failure as a representative body. This failure is grounded in the manner in which the parliament is elected. The electoral systems used for EP elections in many EU countries are actively obstructive of Europe's voters being represented in the way that they are most likely to respond positively towards. While the behaviour of EP members is shaped strongly by the electoral systems under which they are elected (which vary across the 25 member-states of the EU), the electoral systems currently in place push most of them to behave in ways contrary to what citizens desire. Drawing on public opinion data, surveys of MEPs and considerable qualitative interview evidence, this book shows that the failure of parliamentary representation in the EU has a strong foundation in electoral institutions.

Author Biography

David M. Farrell is Jean Monnet Chair in European Politics and Head of School of Social Sciences at the University of Manchester.
Roger Scully is Reader in Political Science at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. x
List of Tables	p. xi
Introduction: Representing Europe's Citizens?	p. 1
Giving the People What they Want: Public Attitudes to Representation in the EU	p. 17
Electoral Institutions and Political Representation	p. 41
Representation and Electoral Systems in Europe	p. 63
Representation in Europe: The Institution and the Individuals	p. 93
Electoral Institutions and Geographical Representation	p. 119
Electoral Reform and the British MEP	p. 139
Life Under List: Representing a Region	p. 163
Conclusion: The Failure of Parliamentary Representation in Europe	p. 197
Appendices	p. 209
Bibliography	p. 217
Index	p. 229
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