Voice Without Vote. The Role and Influence of Consultative Committees in the European Union
Principal Investigator: Diana Panke
Project Outline: Within states and beyond the nation-state, a broad variety of committees are often involved in decision-making processes, be it to increase the efficiency, the expertise or the legitimacy of the latter. This project analytically distinguished between two types of committees: consultative and decision-taking committees. A state of the art review shows that we know much about decision-taking committees, while there is a gap in our knowledge about consultative committees. This is a pity as consultative committees are wide-spread in states and internationally. Since they have access to formal decision-making processes, but no votes, the authors set up a research project on the influence of consultative committees. Based on the examples of the Committee of Regions (as a political consultative committee) and the European Economic and Social Committee (as a expert-based consultative committee) in the European Union, the project theoretically and empirically explores to which extent and under which conditions consultative committees can influence policies.
Funding Agency: Thyssenstiftung
Start and End date: 2010 - 2012
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