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peer-reviewed, This doctoral thesis describes and explains the bargaining success of the member states and the European Parliament party groups (intra-institutional actors), and the Council of Ministers, the European Commission, the European Council, the European Central Bank and the Parliament (inter-institutional) actors in the negotiations on the European Council’s Task Force report on economic governance and the Six-Pack legislative package on reforming the Stability and Growth Pact. Bargaining success is measured between the policy positions of the inter-institutional and intra-institutional actors and the decision outcomes on a wide range of controversies. Theoretical expectations on the variation in the bargaining success of the actors are developed from a wide range of studies on legislative procedures and bargaining models. The analyses are based on a dataset on the most controversial issues from the 2010 Task Force on economic governance and 2011 Six-Pack negotiations. The descriptive findings indicate that a mainly a North/East axis of member states, a right to centre constellation of party groups, the European Council, the Council of Ministers and European Central Bank shaped the outcome of the negotiations. The explanatory findings indicate that proximity to the European Central Bank and the European Council for member states, proximity to the European Central Bank and to the Council of Ministers and holding the position of rapporteur for party groups, and proximity to the European Council for the legislative institutions increased the bargaining success of the policy actors.

Voting behavior in international organizations, most notably in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), is often used to infer the similarity of foreign policy preferences of member states. Most of these measures ignore, however, that particular co-voting patterns may appear simply by chance (Häge 2011) and that these patterns of agreement (or the absence thereof) are only observable if decisions are reached through roll-call votes. As the relative frequency of roll-call votes changes considerably over time in most international organizations, currently used similarity and affinity measures offer a misleading picture. Based on a complete data set of UNGA resolution decisions, we demonstrate how taking different forms of chance agreement and the relative prevalence of consensus decisions into account affects conclusions about the effect of the similarity of member states foreign policy positions on foreign aid allocation., ACCEPTED, peer-reviewed

peer-reviewed, The high success rate of Commission proposals seems to suggest that the European Commission is very influential in promoting European policies. However, the Commission’s agenda-setting activity might be affected by its anticipation of member states’ preferences. If the Commission acts with foresight, it simply does not initiate a proposal when it knows that the proposal will not be acceptable to member state governments in the Council or, more recently, the European Parliament. In this respect, the Commission is far less powerful than it appears. We test this hypothesis with aggregate data on the number of Commission proposals for directives and the degree of EU support in the Council between 1976 and 2003. The results of the analysis broadly support the theoretical argument.

peer-reviewed, This thesis assesses the ability of prominent international relations theories to explain the ceding of governmental authority to an international institution in a region where state sovereignty had traditionally been considered a sacrosanct principle. Since its establishment in 2002, the African Union (AU) has utilised the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) as its framework for responding to regional conflicts and crises. Through APSA, the AU’s remit includes issues such as democracy and human rights promotion that historically had been considered internal matters for African governments. Furthermore, the Architecture provides the Union with a mandate to intervene on a member’s territory under certain circumstances, such as genocide or war crimes. Using the core assumptions of three theoretical approaches – neorealism, liberalism and constructivism – predictions are formulated across two stages of institution creation and design. The first set relates to the process of preference formation within states, while the second addresses the progression and outcome of negotiations between governments. By using the establishment and design of APSA as a case study to test the accuracy of the predictions, the ability of each approach to explain social reality is assessed. The analysis focuses primarily on South Africa and Nigeria, two of the most influential states involved in the process of creating APSA, though the preferences and negotiation strategies of other states are also considered. An extensive selection of primary and secondary documents is drawn upon, as well as interviews with a variety of participants. The interview sample includes several AU officials and some of the most high-ranking foreign policy actors from the governments of South African President Thabo Mbeki and his Nigerian counterpart Olusegun Obasanjo. Ultimately, the research demonstrates that the interests of influential domestic actors in achieving and consolidating political and devel

peer-reviewed, This doctoral thesis describes and explains the bargaining success of the member states and the European Parliament party groups (intra-institutional actors), and the Council of Ministers, the European Commission, the European Council, the European Central Bank and the Parliament (inter-institutional) actors in the negotiations on the European Council’s Task Force report on economic governance and the Six-Pack legislative package on reforming the Stability and Growth Pact. Bargaining success is measured between the policy positions of the inter-institutional and intra-institutional actors and the decision outcomes on a wide range of controversies. Theoretical expectations on the variation in the bargaining success of the actors are developed from a wide range of studies on legislative procedures and bargaining models. The analyses are based on a dataset on the most controversial issues from the 2010 Task Force on economic governance and 2011 Six-Pack negotiations. The descriptive findings indicate that a mainly a North/East axis of member states, a right to centre constellation of party groups, the European Council, the Council of Ministers and European Central Bank shaped the outcome of the negotiations. The explanatory findings indicate that proximity to the European Central Bank and the European Council for member states, proximity to the European Central Bank and to the Council of Ministers and holding the position of rapporteur for party groups, and proximity to the European Council for the legislative institutions increased the bargaining success of the policy actors.

peer-reviewed, In response to a decline in traditional forms of political participation and growing dissatisfaction with and distrust of democratic and public institutions, public authorities have engaged or have been required to engage in widespread democratic experimentation, particularly at the sub-national level. This experimentation, characterized as an integral component of elite-led ‘governance driven democratization’, has led to the proliferation of participatory processes which exist alongside and supplement institutions of representative democracy. The growth of formal institutions of participation which represents the development of participatory approaches to governance extends of the surface area of the state and places citizens and public officials in more frequent and sustained contact. Since 1996, local authorities in Ireland have implemented formal participatory processes which enable the direct participation of citizens and civil society in policy formation. Despite the increased opportunity for citizens and civil society to participate, there is a persistent literature detailing dissatisfaction with ‘consultation fatigue’ and the ‘cosmetic’ or ‘tokenistic’ nature of participation in Ireland and internationally. This research measures and explains variation in the depth of civil society participation within three sub national participatory governance processes; County/City Development Boards, Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committees, and Strategic Policy Committees. Using mixed methods research in a nation-wide study, the depth of participation is analysed with reference to key concepts such as voice, influence, trust and legitimacy. Further, the study connects the public administration and participatory democracy literature in the analysis of participation through the attitudes and experiences of public officials, elected representatives as well as citizen and civil society participants. In doing so, the study produces a more comprehensive and holis

peer-reviewed, This research is about the Committee of the Regions advisory role and the influence of its Opinion in the EU’s decision-making process, particularly in the co-decision procedure. For this purpose, this study attempts to answer two research questions. The first one refers to the potential of the CoR to influence the legislative institutions considering its position in the EU’s interinstitutional framework. In this part, what is of interest is the development of the CoR’s formal and informal relations with the EU’s institutions and the implications for its advisory role. The second research question refers to how and under which conditions the CoR influences the outcome of the co-decision procedure. To answer this part of the research a quantitative analysis is provided as an attempt to measure the impact of the amendments proposed by the CoR in its Opinions under co-decision and to examine possible explanations for its varying degree of influence. The results of this research show, that the CoR holds an important position within the EU’s institutional setting. The CoR exploits this position by developing strong relations especially with the Commission and the European Parliament. The relationship of the CoR with the Commission has been formalised since the mid-1990s in the adoption of cooperation agreements. In these cooperation agreements, the Commission provides for more avenues for the CoR to participate in the decision-making process by requesting for its Opinion in instances where it is not required by the Treaty. Likewise, since 2014 the EP has formalised its relationship with the CoR with their own cooperation agreement with the CoR. The outcome of the quantitative analysis confirms, that the CoR has limited influence through its formal Opinion under co-decision. However, the CoR’s advisory role should not be neglected completely, as the explanatory analysis shows that the CoR can influence the co-decision procedure when it issues its Opinion early in the deci

peer-reviewed, This thesis assesses the ability of prominent international relations theories to explain the ceding of governmental authority to an international institution in a region where state sovereignty had traditionally been considered a sacrosanct principle. Since its establishment in 2002, the African Union (AU) has utilised the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) as its framework for responding to regional conflicts and crises. Through APSA, the AU’s remit includes issues such as democracy and human rights promotion that historically had been considered internal matters for African governments. Furthermore, the Architecture provides the Union with a mandate to intervene on a member’s territory under certain circumstances, such as genocide or war crimes. Using the core assumptions of three theoretical approaches – neorealism, liberalism and constructivism – predictions are formulated across two stages of institution creation and design. The first set relates to the process of preference formation within states, while the second addresses the progression and outcome of negotiations between governments. By using the establishment and design of APSA as a case study to test the accuracy of the predictions, the ability of each approach to explain social reality is assessed. The analysis focuses primarily on South Africa and Nigeria, two of the most influential states involved in the process of creating APSA, though the preferences and negotiation strategies of other states are also considered. An extensive selection of primary and secondary documents is drawn upon, as well as interviews with a variety of participants. The interview sample includes several AU officials and some of the most high-ranking foreign policy actors from the governments of South African President Thabo Mbeki and his Nigerian counterpart Olusegun Obasanjo. Ultimately, the research demonstrates that the interests of influential domestic actors in achieving and consolidating political and devel

peer-reviewed, This doctoral thesis describes and explains the bargaining success of the member states and the European Parliament party groups (intra-institutional actors), and the Council of Ministers, the European Commission, the European Council, the European Central Bank and the Parliament (inter-institutional) actors in the negotiations on the European Council’s Task Force report on economic governance and the Six-Pack legislative package on reforming the Stability and Growth Pact. Bargaining success is measured between the policy positions of the inter-institutional and intra-institutional actors and the decision outcomes on a wide range of controversies. Theoretical expectations on the variation in the bargaining success of the actors are developed from a wide range of studies on legislative procedures and bargaining models. The analyses are based on a dataset on the most controversial issues from the 2010 Task Force on economic governance and 2011 Six-Pack negotiations. The descriptive findings indicate that a mainly a North/East axis of member states, a right to centre constellation of party groups, the European Council, the Council of Ministers and European Central Bank shaped the outcome of the negotiations. The explanatory findings indicate that proximity to the European Central Bank and the European Council for member states, proximity to the European Central Bank and to the Council of Ministers and holding the position of rapporteur for party groups, and proximity to the European Council for the legislative institutions increased the bargaining success of the policy actors.

peer-reviewed, This research is about the Committee of the Regions advisory role and the influence of its Opinion in the EU’s decision-making process, particularly in the co-decision procedure. For this purpose, this study attempts to answer two research questions. The first one refers to the potential of the CoR to influence the legislative institutions considering its position in the EU’s interinstitutional framework. In this part, what is of interest is the development of the CoR’s formal and informal relations with the EU’s institutions and the implications for its advisory role. The second research question refers to how and under which conditions the CoR influences the outcome of the co-decision procedure. To answer this part of the research a quantitative analysis is provided as an attempt to measure the impact of the amendments proposed by the CoR in its Opinions under co-decision and to examine possible explanations for its varying degree of influence. The results of this research show, that the CoR holds an important position within the EU’s institutional setting. The CoR exploits this position by developing strong relations especially with the Commission and the European Parliament. The relationship of the CoR with the Commission has been formalised since the mid-1990s in the adoption of cooperation agreements. In these cooperation agreements, the Commission provides for more avenues for the CoR to participate in the decision-making process by requesting for its Opinion in instances where it is not required by the Treaty. Likewise, since 2014 the EP has formalised its relationship with the CoR with their own cooperation agreement with the CoR. The outcome of the quantitative analysis confirms, that the CoR has limited influence through its formal Opinion under co-decision. However, the CoR’s advisory role should not be neglected completely, as the explanatory analysis shows that the CoR can influence the co-decision procedure when it issues its Opinion early in the deci

peer-reviewed, In response to a decline in traditional forms of political participation and growing dissatisfaction with and distrust of democratic and public institutions, public authorities have engaged or have been required to engage in widespread democratic experimentation, particularly at the sub-national level. This experimentation, characterized as an integral component of elite-led ‘governance driven democratization’, has led to the proliferation of participatory processes which exist alongside and supplement institutions of representative democracy. The growth of formal institutions of participation which represents the development of participatory approaches to governance extends of the surface area of the state and places citizens and public officials in more frequent and sustained contact. Since 1996, local authorities in Ireland have implemented formal participatory processes which enable the direct participation of citizens and civil society in policy formation. Despite the increased opportunity for citizens and civil society to participate, there is a persistent literature detailing dissatisfaction with ‘consultation fatigue’ and the ‘cosmetic’ or ‘tokenistic’ nature of participation in Ireland and internationally. This research measures and explains variation in the depth of civil society participation within three sub national participatory governance processes; County/City Development Boards, Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committees, and Strategic Policy Committees. Using mixed methods research in a nation-wide study, the depth of participation is analysed with reference to key concepts such as voice, influence, trust and legitimacy. Further, the study connects the public administration and participatory democracy literature in the analysis of participation through the attitudes and experiences of public officials, elected representatives as well as citizen and civil society participants. In doing so, the study produces a more comprehensive and holis

peer-reviewed, This doctoral thesis describes and explains the bargaining success of the member states and the European Parliament party groups (intra-institutional actors), and the Council of Ministers, the European Commission, the European Council, the European Central Bank and the Parliament (inter-institutional) actors in the negotiations on the European Council’s Task Force report on economic governance and the Six-Pack legislative package on reforming the Stability and Growth Pact. Bargaining success is measured between the policy positions of the inter-institutional and intra-institutional actors and the decision outcomes on a wide range of controversies. Theoretical expectations on the variation in the bargaining success of the actors are developed from a wide range of studies on legislative procedures and bargaining models. The analyses are based on a dataset on the most controversial issues from the 2010 Task Force on economic governance and 2011 Six-Pack negotiations. The descriptive findings indicate that a mainly a North/East axis of member states, a right to centre constellation of party groups, the European Council, the Council of Ministers and European Central Bank shaped the outcome of the negotiations. The explanatory findings indicate that proximity to the European Central Bank and the European Council for member states, proximity to the European Central Bank and to the Council of Ministers and holding the position of rapporteur for party groups, and proximity to the European Council for the legislative institutions increased the bargaining success of the policy actors.

peer-reviewed, Specialization 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 paper 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. We examine whether small party lawmakers participate more, are more central, and have greater potential for brokerage in policymaking networks, or if the constraints associated with small party size and/or particular ideological leanings prevent their realization. Empirically, our analyses focus on working relationships between rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs in the adoption of reports by standing committees of the 7th European Parliament (2009-2014). Methodologically, we employ a mixed methods approach. Our quantitative analyses show that small party size does not affect legislators’ participation in policymaking 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. Our 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 policymaking in the European Parliament is quite inclusive, as any systematic exclusion tends to be the result of self-marginalisation.

peer-reviewed, This research is about the Committee of the Regions advisory role and the influence of its Opinion in the EU’s decision-making process, particularly in the co-decision procedure. For this purpose, this study attempts to answer two research questions. The first one refers to the potential of the CoR to influence the legislative institutions considering its position in the EU’s interinstitutional framework. In this part, what is of interest is the development of the CoR’s formal and informal relations with the EU’s institutions and the implications for its advisory role. The second research question refers to how and under which conditions the CoR influences the outcome of the co-decision procedure. To answer this part of the research a quantitative analysis is provided as an attempt to measure the impact of the amendments proposed by the CoR in its Opinions under co-decision and to examine possible explanations for its varying degree of influence. The results of this research show, that the CoR holds an important position within the EU’s institutional setting. The CoR exploits this position by developing strong relations especially with the Commission and the European Parliament. The relationship of the CoR with the Commission has been formalised since the mid-1990s in the adoption of cooperation agreements. In these cooperation agreements, the Commission provides for more avenues for the CoR to participate in the decision-making process by requesting for its Opinion in instances where it is not required by the Treaty. Likewise, since 2014 the EP has formalised its relationship with the CoR with their own cooperation agreement with the CoR. The outcome of the quantitative analysis confirms, that the CoR has limited influence through its formal Opinion under co-decision. However, the CoR’s advisory role should not be neglected completely, as the explanatory analysis shows that the CoR can influence the co-decision procedure when it issues its Opinion early in the deci

peer-reviewed, In response to a decline in traditional forms of political participation and growing dissatisfaction with and distrust of democratic and public institutions, public authorities have engaged or have been required to engage in widespread democratic experimentation, particularly at the sub-national level. This experimentation, characterized as an integral component of elite-led ‘governance driven democratization’, has led to the proliferation of participatory processes which exist alongside and supplement institutions of representative democracy. The growth of formal institutions of participation which represents the development of participatory approaches to governance extends of the surface area of the state and places citizens and public officials in more frequent and sustained contact. Since 1996, local authorities in Ireland have implemented formal participatory processes which enable the direct participation of citizens and civil society in policy formation. Despite the increased opportunity for citizens and civil society to participate, there is a persistent literature detailing dissatisfaction with ‘consultation fatigue’ and the ‘cosmetic’ or ‘tokenistic’ nature of participation in Ireland and internationally. This research measures and explains variation in the depth of civil society participation within three sub national participatory governance processes; County/City Development Boards, Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committees, and Strategic Policy Committees. Using mixed methods research in a nation-wide study, the depth of participation is analysed with reference to key concepts such as voice, influence, trust and legitimacy. Further, the study connects the public administration and participatory democracy literature in the analysis of participation through the attitudes and experiences of public officials, elected representatives as well as citizen and civil society participants. In doing so, the study produces a more comprehensive and holis

peer-reviewed, Imperial Germany is a prominent historical case in the study of Western Europe’s political development. This paper investigates the number and content of political conflict dimensions from the foundation of the modern German state in 1866 to the end of Bismarck’s reign as Chancellor in 1890. Methodologically, it applies dimension-reducing statistical methods to a novel dataset of content-coded parliamentary roll call votes. The analysis suggests that the emergence of the Catholic Centre Party in 1871 permanently transformed the conflict space from a single liberal-conservative divide to a two-dimensional space that distinguished positions on socio-economic issues and regime matters, respectively. The fact that positions on redistributive and regime issues were not aligned implies that theories stressing economic inequality as a driver for regime change are of limited applicability. Instead, the case of Imperial Germany highlights the importance of cross-cutting non-economic societal cleavages and the role of societal and political organisations in drawing attention to and perpetuating these divisions.

Voting behavior in international organizations, most notably in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), is often used to infer the similarity of foreign policy preferences of member states. Most of these measures ignore, however, that particular co-voting patterns may appear simply by chance (Häge 2011) and that these patterns of agreement (or the absence thereof) are only observable if decisions are reached through roll-call votes. As the relative frequency of roll-call votes changes considerably over time in most international organizations, currently used similarity and affinity measures offer a misleading picture. Based on a complete data set of UNGA resolution decisions, we demonstrate how taking different forms of chance agreement and the relative prevalence of consensus decisions into account affects conclusions about the effect of the similarity of member states foreign policy positions on foreign aid allocation., ACCEPTED, peer-reviewed