STAGGERED POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS: DESIGN AND EFFECTS

This article highlights the importance of staggered membership renewal in political institutions and draws attention to its policy effects. Staggering exists when the terms of elected or appointed members of an institution do not coincide. Instead, partial renewal of membership is the norm, leading...

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Published inJournal of European public policy Vol. 22; no. 7; pp. 1040 - 1051
Main Authors Willumsen, David M., Goetz, Klaus H.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 09.08.2015
Subjects
Attention
Design
Effects
Europe
European Union
institutional design
Political institutions
Scholarships
second chambers
staggered terms
time horizons
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Summary:This article highlights the importance of staggered membership renewal in political institutions and draws attention to its policy effects. Staggering exists when the terms of elected or appointed members of an institution do not coincide. Instead, partial renewal of membership is the norm, leading to overlapping terms of office and the co-existence of two or more 'classes' of members whose mandates differ in remaining length. The article first reviews the limited existing scholarship on staggering, which tends to associate staggered membership with extended time horizons and policy stability. Using upper parliamentary chambers as an illustrative example, the discussion challenges this received wisdom and emphasizes the possibility of the multiplication of cycles within staggered institutions. The article points out that paying systematic attention to staggering promises to enhance our understanding of both majoritarian and non-majoritarian institutions and their effects in the governance of the European Union.
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ISSN:1350-1763
1466-4429
DOI:10.1080/13501763.2015.1036905