Resolutions of National Parliaments in EU affairs: The Crucial Role of Issue Entrepreneurs

This paper analyses the activity of national parliaments in EU affairs in the form of resolutions. Covering the time period from the late 1990s until the present, the paper examines parliamentary motions and resolutions on EU affairs in six West European countries: Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom. Differences in the frequency of resolutions between countries as well as between party groups with regard to motions are examined. Moreover, all motions and resolutions were hand coded to establish the valence of the texts, i.e. the extent to which they are supportive or critical of the government. Formal scrutiny powers in EU affairs do not seem to have an impact on the frequency with which resolutions are issued. The activity of national parliaments in the form of resolutions is mostly driven by ‘issue entrepreneurs’, parties which are critical of the European Union and which see it as a salient issue. Motions initiated by issue entrepreneurs are very critical of the government’s policy and of the European Union. Moreover, Motions by issue entrepreneurs tend to have a longer preamble and a shorter operational part compared to motions by mainstream opposition and government parties. The reason for this is most likely that issue entrepreneurs use motions to express their opinion on the EU in general instead of formulating a targeted criticism of the government’s policy. The parliamentary activity brought about by issue entrepreneurs might thus not lead to an increase in actual democratic control and accountability in EU affairs

Having a say or getting your way? Political choice and satisfaction with democracy

Citizen satisfaction with democracy is greater when parties offer choices that are congruent with voter preferences. But are citizens content with simply having a party that represents their views or does their satisfaction depend on whether that party can also be instrumental in implementing policies? We argue that instrumentality moderates the effect of ideological congruence on democratic satisfaction. Combining an analysis of cross-national survey data with an experimental conjoint design, we find that citizens able to vote for a congruent party with a chance of entering government are more satisfied with democracy, whereas congruence without instrumentality has no such effect

Having a say or getting your way? Political choice and satisfaction with democracy

Supplementary materials files: online appendix; replication data.Citizen satisfaction with democracy is greater when parties offer choices that are congruent with voterpreferences. But are citizens content with simply having a party that represents their views or does their satisfactiondepend on whether that party can also be instrumental in implementing policies? We argue that instrumentalitymoderates the effect of ideological congruence on democratic satisfaction. Combining an analysis of cross-nationalsurvey data with an experimental conjoint design, we find that citizens able to vote for a congruent party with achance of entering government are more satisfied with democracy, whereas congruence without instrumentality hasno such effect.The research for this paper was generously supported by the European Research Council (ERCGA 647835, EUDEMOS). We are grateful to Tarik Abou-Chadi, Chris Anderson, Sebastian Barfort, Catherine De Vries and Moritz Osnabrügge and the participants at the LSE Government Department Colloquium, the CSES and LSE EUDEMOS workshops and at the APSA and EPSA annual meetings for insightful comments on previous versions of this paper

Using ESI-MS to probe protein structure by site-specific noncovalent attachment of 18-crown-6

A new method for probing the equilibrium structures and folding states of proteins utilizing electrospray ionization mass spectrometry is described. Protein structure is explored as a function of side-chain availability as determined by a specific interaction between lysine and 18-crown-6 ether (18C6). Various intramolecular interactions are competitive with the lysine/18C6 interaction and can prevent noncovalent attachment of 18C6. Changes to protein structure modify these inhibiting intramolecular interactions, which leads to a change in the number of 18C6s that attach to the protein. Experiments conducted with cytochrome c, ubiquitin, and melittin reveal that the method is sensitive to changes in both tertiary and secondary structure. In addition, the structure of each charge state can be examined independently. Experiments can be performed under conditions where the pH and amount of organic cosolvent are varied. Control experiments conducted with pentalysine, which lacks structural organization, are also presented