English to German Social Sciences Government / Politics study for the European Pa

The studies on cohesion, especially those based on voting behaviour in the EP, reveal very high levels of intra-group cohesion.◊ ◊These findings can be explained by, among other things, the symbolic, rather than political, value of many decisions in the EP.◊ ◊This lowers the level of potential internal dissent and makes it easier for decisions to be (near)-unanimous (Bardi, 2001).◊ ◊In any event, voting behaviour throughout the EP, regardless of party distinctions, is generally very cohesive (Hix and Noury 2009).◊ ◊This could also be a consequence of the well-known trend in EP to present a united front in the common struggle against national interests' and intergovernmental concerns' resilience.In any case, it remains doubtful that high absolute levels of cohesion can be considered as indicators of high EP party group institutionalizations.