The Evolution of Agenda Powers in New European Democracies

Why do coalitions manipulate parliamentary agenda rules? In this paper, I test the agenda cartel theory to cast light on the reforms of negative and positive agenda rules in European legislatures. The theory expects that increases in ideological conflict inside coalitions are likely to induce parties to impose constraints on the access that parliament-initiated bills have to the floor; conversely, as the heterogeneity of a coalition declines, new positive agenda powers are likely to be delegated to the cabinet to facilitate the scheduling of government bills. I test these expectations based on an analysis of institutional reforms of agenda rules undertaken in eight new European democracies between 1990 and 2011.