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An Electoral Connection in E uropean Parliament Voting
Author(s) -
Lo James
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
legislative studies quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.728
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1939-9162
pISSN - 0362-9805
DOI - 10.1111/lsq.12023
Subject(s) - ratification , parliament , voting , delegation , political science , treaty , democracy , political economy , endogeneity , law , law and economics , public administration , economics , politics , econometrics
Concerns about endogeneity often complicate attempts to estimate a causal link between public opinion and the voting records of Members of the E uropean Parliament ( MEP s). In this article, I overcome this problem by exploiting a rare natural experiment—the surprising and exogenous revelation of I rish public opinion that resulted from I reland's ratification of the N ice treaty. I find that the I rish electorate's rejection of N ice caused I reland's E uropean Parliament delegation to vote in a more conservative manner, while its subsequent ratification caused a partial reversal of this shift. My finding of an electoral connection on the N ice treaty casts doubt on the claim that MEP s are largely unconstrained by voter preferences on E uropean issues, despite claims of a democratic deficit in E uropean institutions.