Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

SAGETRACK

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Theoretical Politics
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Garrett, G.
Right arrow Articles by Tsebelis, G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
 Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Why Resist the Temptation to Apply Power Indices to the European Union?

Geoffrey Garrett

George Tsebelis

The temptation to apply power indices to decision-making in the European Union should be resisted for two reasons. First, power index approaches either ignore the policy preferences of relevant actors in the EU or incorporate them in ways that generate unstable and misleading results. Second, no matter how sophisticated, power indices cannot take into account the strategic properties of the procedures that govern Europe's legislative processes, especially concerning changes in the institutional location of agenda-setting power. Proponents have responded to our criticisms of earlier power index research with ingenious efforts to include functional substitutes for institutions and preferences. The problems with power indices, however, are congenital and cannot be adequately addressed without moving to a non-cooperative game theoretic framework.

Key Words: agenda-setting • European integration • European Union • legislative processes • power indices

Journal of Theoretical Politics, Vol. 11, No. 3, 291-308 (1999)
DOI: 10.1177/0951692899011003001


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
European Union PoliticsHome page
D. Varela
Just a Lobbyist?: The European Parliament and the Consultation Procedure
European Union Politics, March 1, 2009; 10(1): 7 - 34.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Journal of Theoretical PoliticsHome page
J. Dijkstra, M. A.L.M. Van Assen, and F. N. Stokman
Outcomes of Collective Decisions With Externalities Predicted
Journal of Theoretical Politics, October 1, 2008; 20(4): 415 - 441.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Journal of Theoretical PoliticsHome page
A. Laruelle and F. Valenciano
Bargaining in Committees of Representatives: The `Neutral' Voting Rule
Journal of Theoretical Politics, January 1, 2008; 20(1): 93 - 106.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Journal of Theoretical PoliticsHome page
D. Junge and T. Konig
What's Wrong With Eu Spatial Analysis?: The Accuracy and Robustness of Empirical Applications To the Interpretation of the Legislative Process and the Specification of Preferences
Journal of Theoretical Politics, October 1, 2007; 19(4): 465 - 487.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
European Union PoliticsHome page
J. Schalk, R. Torenvlied, J. Weesie, and F. Stokman
The Power of the Presidency in EU Council Decision-making
European Union Politics, June 1, 2007; 8(2): 229 - 250.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
European Union PoliticsHome page
S. Hagemann
Applying Ideal Point Estimation Methods to the Council of Ministers
European Union Politics, June 1, 2007; 8(2): 279 - 296.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
European Union PoliticsHome page
J. B. Slapin
Who Is Powerful?: Examining Preferences and Testing Sources of Bargaining Strength at European Intergovernmental Conferences
European Union Politics, March 1, 2006; 7(1): 51 - 76.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
European Union PoliticsHome page
C. Beisbart, L. Bovens, and S. Hartmann
A Utilitarian Assessment of Alternative Decision Rules in the Council of Ministers
European Union Politics, December 1, 2005; 6(4): 395 - 418.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Journal of Theoretical PoliticsHome page
S. Napel and M. Widgren
The Possibility of a Preference-Based Power Index
Journal of Theoretical Politics, July 1, 2005; 17(3): 377 - 387.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Journal of Theoretical PoliticsHome page
M. Braham and M. J. Holler
The Impossibility of a Preference-Based Power Index
Journal of Theoretical Politics, January 1, 2005; 17(1): 137 - 157.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
European Union PoliticsHome page
T. Konig and T. Brauninger
Accession and Reform of the European Union: A Game-Theoretical Analysis of Eastern Enlargement and the Constitutional Reform
European Union Politics, December 1, 2004; 5(4): 419 - 439.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Journal of Theoretical PoliticsHome page
S. Napel and M. Widgren
Power Measurement as Sensitivity Analysis: A Unified Approach
Journal of Theoretical Politics, October 1, 2004; 16(4): 517 - 538.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
European Union PoliticsHome page
F. Stokman and R. Thomson
Winners and Losers in the European Union
European Union Politics, March 1, 2004; 5(1): 5 - 23.
[PDF]


Home page
European Union PoliticsHome page
S. Bailer
Bargaining Success in the European Union: The Impact of Exogenous and Endogenous Power Resources
European Union Politics, March 1, 2004; 5(1): 99 - 123.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
European Union PoliticsHome page
M. Albert
The Voting Power Approach: Measurement without Theory
European Union Politics, September 1, 2003; 4(3): 351 - 366.
[PDF]


Home page
Journal of Theoretical PoliticsHome page
S. J. Brams, M. A. Jones, and D. M. Kilgour
Single-Peakedness and Disconnected Coalitions
Journal of Theoretical Politics, July 1, 2002; 14(3): 359 - 383.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Journal of Theoretical PoliticsHome page
D. S. Felsenthal and M. Machover
Myths and Meanings of Voting Power: Comments on a Symposium
Journal of Theoretical Politics, January 1, 2001; 13(1): 81 - 97.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Journal of Theoretical PoliticsHome page
G. Garrett and G. Tsebelis
Even More Reasons to Resist the Temptation of Power Indices in the EU
Journal of Theoretical Politics, January 1, 2001; 13(1): 99 - 105.
[PDF]


Home page
Journal of Asian and African StudiesHome page
J. R. Strand
Institutional Design and Power Relations in the African Development Bank
Journal of Asian and African Studies, January 1, 2001; 36(2): 203 - 223.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
European Union PoliticsHome page
K. Dowding
Institutionalist Research on the European Union: A Critical Review
European Union Politics, February 1, 2000; 1(1): 125 - 144.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Journal of Theoretical PoliticsHome page
J.-E. Lane and S. Berg
Relevance of Voting Power
Journal of Theoretical Politics, July 1, 1999; 11(3): 309 - 320.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Journal of Theoretical PoliticsHome page
M. Holler and M. Widgren
Why Power Indices for Assessing European Union Decision-Making?
Journal of Theoretical Politics, July 1, 1999; 11(3): 321 - 330.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Journal of Theoretical PoliticsHome page
G. Garrett and G. Tsebelis
More Reasons to Resist the Temptation of Power Indices in the European Union
Journal of Theoretical Politics, July 1, 1999; 11(3): 331 - 338.
[Abstract] [PDF]