TY - JOUR
T1 - Power versus Ideology
T2 - Political Group Switching in the European Parliament
AU - Hix, Simon
AU - Noury, Abdul
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Washington University in St. Louis
PY - 2018/11
Y1 - 2018/11
N2 - Why do legislators switch party? We seek to identify whether “party switching” is mainly determined by power (to join a more influential party) or ideology (to join a party with closer policy goals). We focus on the 557 cases of political group switching in the European Parliament between 1979 and 2014. We find that most of these cases were from smaller, more marginal, and oppositional groups, to larger, more pivotal, and governing groups. Nevertheless, we also find that ideological congruence (between an MEP and his or her prospective group) was an important determinant of political group switching.
AB - Why do legislators switch party? We seek to identify whether “party switching” is mainly determined by power (to join a more influential party) or ideology (to join a party with closer policy goals). We focus on the 557 cases of political group switching in the European Parliament between 1979 and 2014. We find that most of these cases were from smaller, more marginal, and oppositional groups, to larger, more pivotal, and governing groups. Nevertheless, we also find that ideological congruence (between an MEP and his or her prospective group) was an important determinant of political group switching.
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U2 - 10.1111/lsq.12202
DO - 10.1111/lsq.12202
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85045958738
SN - 0362-9805
VL - 43
SP - 551
EP - 594
JO - Legislative Studies Quarterly
JF - Legislative Studies Quarterly
IS - 4
ER -