Overview
- Analyses the uses and limitations of the principal-agent model in the study of EU politics
- Moves beyond old principal-agent models to understand ever more complex realities within the EU
- Offers a thorough empirical analysis covering a variety of policy fields and political actors
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics (PSEUP)
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About this book
This book assesses the use and limitations of the principal-agent model in a context of increasingly complex political systems such as the European Union. Whilst a number of conceptual, theoretical and methodological challenges need to be addressed, the authors show that the principal-agent model can still provide deeper insights into a wide range of political phenomena. Through an empirical analysis of multiple principal-agent relations in the EU, covering a variety of policy fields and political actors, the volume refines our theoretical understanding of the politics of delegation and discretion in the EU. It will appeal to scholars in interested in EU politics and policy, public administration and governance, and international organisations.
The chapter ‘Multiple principals preferences, different types of oversight mechanisms, and agent’s discretion in trade negotiations’ is published open access under a CC BY 4.0 license via link.springer.com.
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Keywords
- use and limitations of the prinicipal-agent model
- democratic legitimacy
- political accountablity
- EU politics
- European External Action Service
- trilogues in the European Parliament
- agent interaction
- non-exclusive delegation
- collective agent
- EU conlict resolution
- latent control
- European Council
- EU trade negotiations
- delegation and control in the EU
- governance decision-making
- european union politics
Table of contents (12 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Reviews
“This book is a tour-de-force of the European Union’s increasingly complex architecture. But studying it through the lens of the principal-agent model brings order and clarity. Delreux and Adriaensen show how the careful application of a model to an entire empirical field not only provides a map for navigating the empirical terrain, but also enables theory development. Endeavors like this advance our discipline.” (Professor Jens Blom-Hansen, Aarhus University, Denmark)
“This important book develops the principal-agent model in new and significant directions. One of the key tools in political science emerges as a powerful and relevant model to tackle central issues for the discipline.” (Professor Mark Thatcher, London School of Economics, UK)
Editors and Affiliations
About the editors
Tom Delreux is Professor of EU Politics at the Institut de Sciences Politiques Louvain-Europe (ISPOLE) at the University of Louvain (Louvain-la-Neuve), Belgium.
Johan Adriaensen is Research Coordinator at the Center for European Research in Maastricht (CERiM) at Maastricht University, the Netherlands.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Principal Agent Model and the European Union
Editors: Tom Delreux, Johan Adriaensen
Series Title: Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55137-1
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-55136-4Published: 02 November 2017
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-85576-9Published: 23 August 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-55137-1Published: 16 October 2017
Series ISSN: 2662-5873
Series E-ISSN: 2662-5881
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVIII, 304
Number of Illustrations: 11 b/w illustrations
Topics: European Union Politics, International Organization, Governance and Government