Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Political Science

Committee Chair

John Kilwein

Committee Member

Shauna Fisher

Committee Member

Erik Herron

Committee Member

Daniel Renfrew

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to apply punctuated equilibrium theory to better understand the development of energy policies in the European Parliament and in the Lithuanian Parliament – Seimas. In the first empirical chapter I analyze written questions that members of the European Parliament submitted to the EU Commission to study whether members of the European Parliament respond to punctuating events such as the Fukushima nuclear accident. I also study party groupings in the European Parliament to evaluate how punctuating events alter the policy behavior and priorities of these party groupings. In the second empirical chapter I analyze whether political parties in Lithuanian Seimas also respond to the same punctuating events.

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