Between Chaos and Sclerosis:

This study examines the stability of legislativedecisions in the European Union before and afterenlargement and after the possible entry into forceof the Lisbon Treaty. Stability of decisions isanalysed both in terms of a risk ofdecision cycles and in terms of the frequency ofgridlock situations. The risk of such 'chaotic'decisions depends on three parameters, the applieddecision rules, the dimensionality of the conflictspace and the heterogeneity of actor preferences.Dietrich Drüner uses the concepts of the core and thewinset, which stem from spatial voting and vetoplayers theory and which incorporate the threeparameters. Testing these concepts against a dataset about 70 legislative proposals, Dietrich Drünergenerates empirical findings about the impacts ofenlargement and institutional reform on the EU'sdecision-making processes.This book is intended for scholars of Europeanintegration and politics as well as policy makers atboth the European and the national level.

Autorentext

Dietrich Drüner has studied Public Policy and Management at the University of Konstanz, Germany, from 1996 to 2002 with specialisations in European studies, management studies and environmental policy. In 2000/2001 he studied political science at Sciences Po in Paris. He will soon begin his professional career at the EU Institutions.

Klappentext
This study examines the stability of legislative decisions in the European Union before and after enlargement and after the possible entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. Stability of decisions is analysed both in terms of a risk of decision cycles and in terms of the frequency of gridlock situations. The risk of such 'chaotic' decisions depends on three parameters, the applied decision rules, the dimensionality of the conflict space and the heterogeneity of actor preferences. Dietrich Drüner uses the concepts of the core and the winset, which stem from spatial voting and veto players theory and which incorporate the three parameters. Testing these concepts against a data set about 70 legislative proposals, Dietrich Drüner generates empirical findings about the impacts of enlargement and institutional reform on the EU's decision-making processes. This book is intended for scholars of European integration and politics as well as policy makers at both the European and the national level.