Edoardo Bressanelli
 Edoardo Bressanelli is completing his doctoral dissertation at the European University Institute. His thesis focuses on the impact of the 2004/7 enlargement towards Central and Eastern upon the Europarties and the EU party system. He applies a theoretical framework originally developed for political parties in developing polities to political parties at the EU level. The thesis combines qualitative (interviews, archival research) and quantititive methods (statistical analysis of Euromanifesto and EU Profiler data, together with roll-call votes) and demonstrates that, contrary to widely held expectations, the 'Big Bang' enlargement did not have a negative impact upon the institutionalization of the Europarties and the EU party system.
Previously, Edoardo obtained a B.A. and a M.A. in Political Sciences and International Relations from the University of Pisa, a diploma from the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, and a Master of Research (M-Res) from the European University Institute. Between January 2009 and April 2010, he spent a period of training and research in the European Parliament and worked for the Italian Permanent Representation in Brussels.
While at the EUI, Edoardo collaborated in a research project on the Informal Politics of Co-Decision in the EU, funded by the the UK Economic and Social Research Council and the Research Council of the European University Institute. He has also been research assistant at the European Union Democracy Observatory (EUI) and has contributed to the report on How to Create a Transnational Party System commissioned by the Policy Department C (Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs) and funded by the European Parliament.
He has published, both in English and in Italian, on political parties at the EU level, on European Parliament elections and on Italy and the EU. His paper “National Parties and Group Membership in the European Parliament: Ideology or Pragmatism?” was selected among the best papers presented at the 2011 EUSA Conference and will appear in the Journal of European Public Policy. Edoardo's specialization concentrates upon EU institutions and political parties, but he is also interested in the EU decision-making and on methodological issues in comparative research.
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