This broad-ranging text examines the political dynamic of the European Parliament within the developing European Union and sets it in the broader context of comparative legislative analysis. To this end the authors analyse the roles performed by the European Parliament as a 'legislature'; its part in the EU's decision making process; and its contribution to crucial debates about democracy, legitimacy and the 'parliamentarisation' of the European Union.

'[T]his welcome addition to the still relatively small amount of literature on the Parliament will undoubtedly become a core textbook for those studying the EU. There's plenty of food for thought, too, in these pages, to tempt the policy practitioner crowd.' - European Voice

'[A] comprehensive text...essential reading...Those with undergraduate or postgraduate reading lists in mind will find much in the authors' succinct summaries of sophisticated literature and in their ability to set out simply, among other things, the notoriously complex co-decision procedure' - Richard Whitaker, Journal of Common Market Studies

'[E]ssential reading...This book is easily the most comprehensive treatment in English of the EP to date and...is likely to remain the central work on the subject for some time.' - Paolo Dardanelli, Times Higher Education Supplement

Introduction
Locating the European Parliament
Historical Evolution: The European Parliament and Ever Closer Union
Linkage, Elections and Legitimacy
Linkage, Representation and MEPs
Party Groups in the European Parliament
Internal Organisation
Formal Powers
Influence and Decision Making
A Parliamentary Europe?

DAVID JUDGE is Professor of Politics, University of Strathclyde.

DAVID EARNSHAW is Managing Director of Burson Marsteller.