Procedural Politics
Issues, Influence, and Institutional Choice in the European Union

Procedural Politics, first published in 2004, develops a theory of everyday politics with respect to rules.

Joseph Jupille (Author)

9780521832533, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 August 2004

296 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.61 kg

'Joseph Jupille's Procedural Politics is a first-rate work of institutional analysis, combining the theoretical elegance and methodological sophistication of the very best rational-choice work on US Congressional institutions with a rigorous quantitative and qualitative study of the politics of the European Union. Jupille's hypotheses about the conditions under which, and the ways in which, EU actors engage in procedural disputes are clearly articulated and tested with rigor, and the implications of the book extend beyond the EU to any political system - and there are many - in which actors might be tempted to manipulate legislative procedure for their own purposes.' Mark Pollack, University of Wisconsin

This book was first published in 2004. Under what conditions, in what ways, and with what effects do actors engage in politics with respect to, rather than merely within, political institutions? Using multiple methods and original data, Procedural Politics develops a theory of everyday politics with respect to rules - procedural politics - and applies it to European Union integration and politics. Assuming that actors influence maximizers, it argues and demonstrates that the jurisdiction ambiguity of issues provides opportunities for procedural politics and that influence-differences among institutional alternatives provide the incentives. It also argues and demonstrates that procedural politics occurs by predictable means (most notably, involving procedural coalition formation and strategic issue-definition) and exerts predictable effects on policymaking efficiency and outcomes and long-run institutional change. Beyond illuminating previously under-appreciated aspects of EU rule governance, these findings generalize to all rule-governed political systems and form the basis of fuller accounts of the role of institutions in political life.

List of figures
List of tables
Preface and acknowledgments
List of acronyms used in the text
1. Introduction: choice, constraint, and European Union institutions
2. Theorizing procedural politics: issues, interests, and institutional choice
3. The EU as a procedural system: rules, preferences, and strategic interaction
4. Patterns: determinants and effects of EU procedural politics
5. Greening the market? Procedural politics and EU environmental policy
6. Mad cows and Englishmen: procedural politics and EU agricultural policy
7. Conclusion: procedural politics and rule governance in the EU and beyond
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: International institutions [JPSN], Political structure & processes [JPH]