Author Description

"A commonplace assumption about the EU is that those working within European institutions are subject to a pervasive tendency to become socialized into progressively more pro-integration attitudes and behaviours. This assumption has been integral to many accounts of European integration, and is also central to how scholars study individual EU institutions. However, the theoretical and empirical adequacy of this assumption has never been properly investigated. This study examines this question in the context of an increasingly important EU institution, the European Parliament. The book integrates new theoretical arguments with a substantial amount of original empirical research. The empirical analysis shows the commonplace assumption about EU institutions to be false. The findings of the study generate some highly important conclusions for the EU, and for our understanding of how political institutions do - or do not - socialize those operating within them."--Jacket.