Bibtex export
@article{ McElroy2006, title = {Committee Representation in the European Parliament}, author = {McElroy, Gail}, journal = {European Union Politics}, number = {1}, pages = {5-29}, volume = {7}, year = {2006}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1177/1465116506060910}, urn = {https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-228941}, abstract = {The European Parliament (EP) possesses a highly specialized committee system, operating in a complex institutional and political environment, yet little empirical work has investigated how MEPs are assigned to EP committees and what consequences this process has for representation and policy-making. In this article I examine the growth of EP committees and committee membership since 1979, and address the question of whether these committees are representative of the EP as a whole. Using an original data set of committee membership, national and EP party affiliation, MEP characteristics, and MEP policy preferences derived from roll-call votes, I address three key questions: Does committee membership reflect the party group composition of the EP? Do committee members possess specialized expertise in their committees’ policy areas? And, finally, do committee members’ general or committee-specific policy preferences differ substantially from those of the overall Parliament? The results suggest very strongly that, although committee members do tend to possess policy-specific expertise, committees are, nonetheless, highly representative of the EP as a whole, in terms of both party and policy representation.}, }