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How cohesive is the kingmaker of the European Parliament? A roll call-vote study of voting cohesion in the Liberal Party Group of the European Parliament in EP8 and EP9

Erlandsson, Thea LU (2023) STVK04 20232
Department of Political Science
Abstract
Voting cohesion in the European Parliament is a thoroughly studied field, however a deep dive into the kingmaker of coalition building, the liberal party group, has yet to be done. This thesis attempts to illustrate how voting cohesion varies within the Alliance of Liberals & Democrats and Renew Europe respectively, and what factors can explain variation in cohesion. Specifically, how cohesion varies across policy area, how ideological heterogeneity affects cohesion and the differences in cohesion between ALDE and Renew. Two theories were used: the two principal-dilemma and the issue of salience, which hypothesizes that defection in voting will occur when differences in opinions (heterogeneity) is present, and that the influence of the... (More)
Voting cohesion in the European Parliament is a thoroughly studied field, however a deep dive into the kingmaker of coalition building, the liberal party group, has yet to be done. This thesis attempts to illustrate how voting cohesion varies within the Alliance of Liberals & Democrats and Renew Europe respectively, and what factors can explain variation in cohesion. Specifically, how cohesion varies across policy area, how ideological heterogeneity affects cohesion and the differences in cohesion between ALDE and Renew. Two theories were used: the two principal-dilemma and the issue of salience, which hypothesizes that defection in voting will occur when differences in opinions (heterogeneity) is present, and that the influence of the European party group has decreased in favor of the national party discipline. The study was conducted using roll call-votes from 2014 to 2022 in the European Parliament, and ideological positionings from Chapel Hill expert surveys. To calculate the result a cohesion index and standard deviations were used. The results show that cohesion varies across policy areas and that there is a weak relationship between heterogeneity and low cohesion, and that the shift in policy and power that occurred with the creation of Renew has influenced cohesion. Furthermore, there is support for the two principal-dilemma that MEPs are controlled by EPG and national party discipline. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Erlandsson, Thea LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVK04 20232
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
European Parliament, roll call-votes, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, Renew Europe, ideological heterogeneity
language
English
id
9143685
date added to LUP
2024-03-12 15:15:14
date last changed
2024-03-12 15:15:14
@misc{9143685,
  abstract     = {{Voting cohesion in the European Parliament is a thoroughly studied field, however a deep dive into the kingmaker of coalition building, the liberal party group, has yet to be done. This thesis attempts to illustrate how voting cohesion varies within the Alliance of Liberals & Democrats and Renew Europe respectively, and what factors can explain variation in cohesion. Specifically, how cohesion varies across policy area, how ideological heterogeneity affects cohesion and the differences in cohesion between ALDE and Renew. Two theories were used: the two principal-dilemma and the issue of salience, which hypothesizes that defection in voting will occur when differences in opinions (heterogeneity) is present, and that the influence of the European party group has decreased in favor of the national party discipline. The study was conducted using roll call-votes from 2014 to 2022 in the European Parliament, and ideological positionings from Chapel Hill expert surveys. To calculate the result a cohesion index and standard deviations were used. The results show that cohesion varies across policy areas and that there is a weak relationship between heterogeneity and low cohesion, and that the shift in policy and power that occurred with the creation of Renew has influenced cohesion. Furthermore, there is support for the two principal-dilemma that MEPs are controlled by EPG and national party discipline.}},
  author       = {{Erlandsson, Thea}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{How cohesive is the kingmaker of the European Parliament? A roll call-vote study of voting cohesion in the Liberal Party Group of the European Parliament in EP8 and EP9}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}