The European Parliament and political redirection of the European Community

History provides us with few examples of legislatures springing forth fully equipped to make decisions that affect the political, social, and economic activities of a society. How is it that an institution once peripheral to the policy-making process of a political system becomes incorporated into that process? This question forms the basis for this study of the European Parliament. At the same time that we are witnessing the integration of Europe, we are also witnessing the increase of the European Parliament's powers in the policy-making process of the European Community. While we can identify the increase in Parliament's powers and the nature of these powers, this does not help us to understand very much about how and why this change is occurring. This study proposes that the European Parliament is the beneficiary of a political redirection of the European Community. Political redirection is understood as a process of change in the political weight or position of the institutions in a governing system. This occurs as a process of change in the institutional structure and the behavior and beliefs of participants in the governing system.