The Committee Secretariat of the European Parliament: administrative mobility, expertise and keeping the legislative wheels turning

Alexander, D. A. (2021) The Committee Secretariat of the European Parliament: administrative mobility, expertise and keeping the legislative wheels turning. Journal of Legislative Studies, 27(2), pp. 227-245. (doi: 10.1080/13572334.2020.1832389)

Abstract

This paper offers a novel perspective on the benefits provided by the rotation of administrators within legislative systems, by exploring the Committee Secretariat (CS) of the European Parliament (EP) and their role as a source of information utilised by legislators. Using qualitative interviews, I provide an original outlook on the expertise of the Committee Secretariat after the entrenchment of career mobility practices. I find that the advent of mobility, where administrators are moved into a new position after a set number of years, is altering the culture of the Secretariat away from area specialists and towards greater concentrations of highly adaptable generalists. I provide an account on the functions of mobility and the benefits it provides from encouraging a more encompassing understanding of institutional practices. From gaining a wider knowledge, by working on different committees, administrators may be of greater usefulness to lawmakers.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council [grant number ES/J500136/1].
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Alexander, Dr David
• Authors: Alexander, D. A.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences
• Journal Name: Journal of Legislative Studies
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• ISSN: 1357-2334
• ISSN (Online): 1743-9337
• Published Online: 04 November 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Journal of Legislative Studies 27(2): 227-245
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
190423		ESRC Doctoral Training Centre 2011...	Mary Beth Kneafsey	Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)	ES/J500136/1	Research and Innovation Services