How do individual legislators in the European Parliament (EP) make decisions? Despite a flourishing literature on the European Union's only directly elected institution, we know surprisingly little about the micro-foundations of EP politics. This book's principal argument is that members of the EP (MEPs) make decisions on the basis of perceived preference coherence. When lacking the resources and expertise to make fully informed decisions on most policy proposals, MEPs adopt the positions of those expert colleagues in the responsible legislative committee whose preferences over policy outcomes ... More

How do individual legislators in the European Parliament (EP) make decisions? Despite a flourishing literature on the European Union's only directly elected institution, we know surprisingly little about the micro-foundations of EP politics. This book's principal argument is that members of the EP (MEPs) make decisions on the basis of perceived preference coherence. When lacking the resources and expertise to make fully informed decisions on most policy proposals, MEPs adopt the positions of those expert colleagues in the responsible legislative committee whose preferences over policy outcomes they perceive to most closely match their own. Given that these preferences are difficult to determine, legislators rely on a shared party label as a stand-in for common preferences. This process results in cohesive party groups not because legislators are “whipped” by their party leadership, but because most MEPs do not know what their preferences and positions ought to be independent of the input provided by their party's policy expert. If nonexpert legislators demand information about how the proposed policy positions relate to their most preferred outcomes, policy experts provide it in the form of focal points, which summarize and evaluate the expected implications of the legislation. Using both quantitative and qualitative data, the book explicitly investigates policy-making processes and outcomes. This not only helps us explain how individual legislators make decisions, it also sheds light on the nature and role of parties and committees in EP politics. “Who Decides, and How?” illustrates how legislators make broadly representative decisions under conditions of resource scarcity, informational uncertainty, and problematic policy preferences.