This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (3) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by König, T. Articles by Dannwolf, T. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Quantifying European Legislative Research

Using CELEX and PreLex in EU Legislative Studies

German University of Administrative Sciences, Speyer, Germany

Brooke Luetgert

German University of Administrative Sciences, Speyer, Germany

Tanja Dannwolf

University of Mannheim, Germany

Research on European legislative decision-making has entered a stage of quantitative analysis. The quantitative approach promises to advance the current dialogue by allowing for the evaluation of competing approaches across multiple policy domains and over time. At the same time, the quantitative study of EU decision-making introduces a number of drawbacks: it is difficult to identify one definitive source for legislative information, and case-level data are not directly accessible in a machine-readable format. In order to identify the most crucial pitfalls and provide a reliable data source, we evaluate the most frequently cited, publicly available EU legislative database, CELEX, and compare it with a less publicized legislative database referred to as PreLex. We find that CELEX documents legislative events, whereas PreLex records inter-institutional activities in the legislative process. Unsurprisingly, each of these databases has particular advantages, and we discuss which of the two might be better suited for the analysis of specific research questions.

Key Words: CELEX • European legislation • legislative analysis • PreLex

European Union Politics, Vol. 7, No. 4, 553-574 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1465116506069444


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. Luetgert and T. Dannwolf Mixing Methods: A Nested Analysis of EU Member State Transposition Patterns European Union Politics, September 1, 2009; 10(3): 307 - 334. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. Hartlapp and G. Falkner Problems of Operationalization and Data in EU Compliance Research European Union Politics, June 1, 2009; 10(2): 281 - 304. [Abstract] [PDF]

				B. Hoyland, I. Sircar, and S. Hix Forum Section: An Automated Database of the European Parliament European Union Politics, March 1, 2009; 10(1): 143 - 152. [PDF]

				D. Toshkov Embracing European Law: Compliance with EU Directives in Central and Eastern Europe European Union Politics, September 1, 2008; 9(3): 379 - 402. [Abstract] [PDF]

				T. Konig Analysing the Process of EU Legislative Decision-Making: To Make a Long Story Short... European Union Politics, March 1, 2008; 9(1): 145 - 165. [PDF]

				D. Junge and T. Konig What's Wrong With Eu Spatial Analysis?: The Accuracy and Robustness of Empirical Applications To the Interpretation of the Legislative Process and the Specification of Preferences Journal of Theoretical Politics, October 1, 2007; 19(4): 465 - 487. [Abstract] [PDF]