Description
Book SynopsisWhy have the national governments of EU member states successively endowed the European Parliament with supervisory, budgetary, and legislative powers over the past fifty years? Building Europe''s Parliament sheds new light on this pivotal issue, and provides a major contribution to the study of the European Parliament. Rittberger develops a theory of delegation to representative institutions in international politics which combines elements of democratic theory and different strands of institutionalist theory. To test the plausibility of his theory, Rittberger draws on extensive archival material and offers theory-guided, in-depth case studies of three landmark decisions in the history of the European Parliament: the creation of the Common Assembly of the ECSC in 1951 and the concomitant acquisition of supervisory powers vis-à-vis the quasi-executive High Authority; the delegation of budgetary powers following the signing of the Treaty of Luxembourg in 1970; and the delegation of legi
Trade ReviewRittberger has written a convincing and fascinating account of the birth and empowerment of the worlds only supranational legislature. * EUSA Review *
The strength of Rittbergers work is that it illustrates the parliamentarization of a system in an era when parliaments are supposedly declining in liberal democracies. * Journal of Common Market Studies *
This monograph is a major contribution to both the history and the political theory of European integration. * Political Studies Review *
Table of ContentsPART I: THEORY; PART II: THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT'S POWER TRIAS
