Showing papers in "Journal of European Public Policy in 2009"

Crisis exploitation: political and policy impacts of framing contests

Abstract: When societies are confronted with major, disruptive emergencies, the fate of politicians and public policies hangs in the balance. Both government actors and their critics will try to escape blame for their occurrence, consolidate/strengthen their political capital, and advance/defend the policies they stand for. Crises thus generate framing contests to interpret events, their causes, and the responsibilities and lessons involved in ways that suit their political purposes and visions of future policy directions. This article dissects these processes and articulates foundations for a theory of crisis exploitation. Drawing on 15 cases of crisis-induced framing contests, we identify potentially crucial factors that may explain both the political (effects on incumbent office-holders/institutions) and policy (effects on programs) impacts of crises.

EU rules beyond EU borders: theorizing external governance in European politics

Abstract: The concept of external governance seeks to capture the expanding scope of EU rules beyond EU borders. This article elaborates the theoretical foundations of this concept, differentiates the various institutional modes through which external governance takes place and suggests a set of hypotheses addressing the conditions under which EU external governance is effective. Here, we contrast institutionalist explanations, which are the most germane to an external governance approach, with competing expectations derived from power-based theories and approaches emphasizing the role of domestic factors in the target countries.

Ideas, institutions, and policy change

Abstract: Seeking to amend historical institutionalism, this article draws on the political science literature on ideas and the sociological literature on framing to discuss three ways in which ideational processes impact policy change. First, such processes help to construct the problems and issues that enter the policy agenda. Second, ideational processes shape the assumptions that affect the content of reform proposals. Third, these processes can become discursive weapons that participate in the construction of reform imperatives. Overall, ideational processes impact the ways policy actors perceive their interests and the environment in which they mobilize. Yet, such processes are not the only catalyst of policy change, and institutional constraints impact the politics of ideas and policy change. This claim is further articulated in the final section, which shows how national institutions and repertoires remain central to the politics of policy change despite the undeniable role of transnational actors and proce...

Measuring policy learning: regulatory impact assessment in Europe

Abstract: Do analytic approaches to policy appraisal, specifically regulatory impact assessment (RIA), enable complex organizations to learn? To answer this question, this article distinguishes between types of learning (instrumental, legitimacy-seeking emulation, and political), spells out their micro-foundations, and formulates expectations about evidence drawing on the literature on knowledge utilization. Findings from Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK and the EU corroborate emulation and to some extent political learning rather than instrumental learning. The conclusions explain why some types of learning prevail over others.

EU promotion of democratic governance in the neighbourhood

Abstract: This article analyses the effectiveness of the EU's promotion of democratic governance through functional co-operation in the European neighbourhood. In a comparative study of three policy sectors in three countries (Moldova, Morocco, and Ukraine), we show that the EU is capable of inducing neighbouring countries to adopt policy-specific democratic governance provisions in the absence of accession conditionality. In line with the institutionalist hypotheses, we find that effective rule adoption can be secured by strong legal specification of democratic governance elements in the EU sectoral acquis and international conventions. However, successful rule adoption does not necessarily lead to rule application.

Fake, partial and imposed compliance: the limits of the EU's normative power in the Western Balkans

Abstract: This article examines the EU's external power through the prism of perceptions by non-EU countries of the aims of EU's foreign policy, as shown in the Western Balkans. It argues that the EU's policy in the Western Balkans lacks a strong normative justification, which affects the degree of compliance with the EU's demands in areas related to state sovereignty. The perceived lack of legitimacy opens up political space for domestic actors to contest the positions taken by the EU on normative grounds. The Western Balkan countries have responded by giving preference to internal sources of legitimacy and asserting domestic reasons for fake compliance, partial compliance or non-compliance with the EU's conditions, with the latter provoking imposed compliance. The article links the enlargement literature with the study of EU foreign policy by offering a new approach to analysing the normative and strategic dimensions of the EU's external power.

Learning theory reconsidered: EU integration theories and learning

Abstract: This article introduces this special issue by contextualizing learning theory within European integration studies. There are important empirical and theoretical gaps in the study of European integration which necessitate a greater attention to learning theory. This article deploys a number of conceptual distinctions about learning and non-learning processes, drawing from political science, international relations, public administration and sociological/organizational studies. It traces ‘learning’ in its political science context and how learning has been inserted into EU integration studies. In relating this evolution, the article examines the conditions that define the type and likelihood of learning and surveys the special issue. The article argues that studying learning in the EU is difficult, but integration requires an understanding of the micro policy processes that learning seeks to address.

The policy and politics of policy appraisal: emerging trends and new directions

Abstract: Over the last 20 years, policy appraisal has emerged as a popular topic for discussion amongst policy-makers and academics alike. Much research effort has been devoted to developing tools and techniques to inform appraisal activities, but there has been, until recently, a distinct paucity of research on what might be termed the ‘policy and politics’ of policy appraisal. This is surprising, since policy appraisal is undoubtedly an important site of political behaviour, with its own institutions, instruments and policy actors. This paper takes stock of recent research on policy appraisal, draws out some common threads, and makes some suggestions for future research on what is a rapidly expanding field of European public policy analysis.

Democracy promotion as external governance

Abstract: In supporting democratic norms in third countries the European Union (EU) uses network more than hierarchical modes of governance. The exception is where the adoption of internal modes is set as a condition for countries to join the Union. In other cases, limited bargaining power and complex domestic political structures in third countries militate against the use of hierarchy in democracy support policies. Geostrategic concerns over stability represent part of the causal dynamics of these two variables. There is some correlation between governance mode and effectiveness, but this is less strong than the role played by domestic politics in determining impact. The latter help to explain a breach between rule selection and application: EU governance rules are often transferred without significant impact on third country political dynamics.

Comparing transposition in the 27 member states of the EU: the impact of discretion and legal fit

Abstract: Transposition performance differs significantly across countries and policy sectors in the EU. In this article we analyse the transposition efforts of all 27 member states with regard to four EC directives expected to create considerable difficulties for compliance at the national level. Using Cox proportional hazards regression, we find that discretion and legal fit are significant factors in explaining transposition. Furthermore, we discover that the new member states from Central and Eastern Europe are not doing any worse than the rest of the EU in terms of transposition timeliness. Surprisingly, government effectiveness has a negative relationship with compliance, while periods of absence of functioning government do not increase transposition time. Our findings emphasize the importance of legal-administrative factors for compliance with EU law.

States' bargaining success in the European Union

Abstract: This study describes and explains states' bargaining success in legislative decision-making in the European Union. We measure bargaining success by the congruence between decision outcomes and states' policy positions on a wide range of controversies. We develop and test expectations about variation in states' bargaining success from models of bargaining and legislative procedures. The analyses are based on a newly updated dataset on legislative decision-making that covers the period before and after the 2004 enlargement. The main descriptive finding is that there are no clear winners and losers among member states when a large number of decision outcomes are considered together. However, on any given issue, states typically differ markedly from each other in their bargaining success. Both bargaining models and procedural models provide insights that explain some of the variation in states' bargaining success.

The role of independent regulatory agencies in policy-making: a comparative analysis

Abstract: This article examines the role of formally independent regulatory agencies (IRAs) in policy-making, focusing on six cases concerning the revision of crucial laws related to the competencies of the investigated IRA. These cases were selected from three small European countries (the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland) and two policy areas (finance and competition). After collecting documental and survey information on the participation and weight of each actor, the Actor-Process-Event Scheme was used to obtain a synthetic measure of agencies’ centrality in the course of each policy process. My hypotheses on the centrality of agencies are then tested with a two-step Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Results suggest that de facto independence from the political decision-makers is a necessary condition for the maximal centrality of agencies in policy-making, whilst non-professionalization of the legislature and low independence from the regulatees are jointly sufficient for explaining this outcome.

The role of ideas in policy transfer: the case of UK smoking bans since devolution

Abstract: This article explores the relationship between ideas and interests in policy change by examining tobacco control in each country of the United Kingdom (UK). In all four, the moves towards further prohibition reflected international trends, with evidence of policy transfer and the virus-like spread of ideas which has shifted the way that tobacco is framed. However, there are notable differences in the development of policy in each territory. This reinforces conceptions of transfer in which the importation of policy is mediated by political systems. Differences in policy conditions, institutions and ‘windows of opportunity’ mean that our conclusions on the role and influence of interest groups, institutions and agenda-setting vary by territory, even within a member state. This suggests that a focus on an ‘idea whose time has come’ should be supplemented by careful analysis of the political context in which the idea was articulated and accepted.

Constraining external governance: interdependence with Russia and the CIS as limits to the EU's rule transfer in the Ukraine

Abstract: The question of how effective the EU's external governance is cannot be answered without looking at the broader geographical and historical framework in which the Union extends its influence. We argue that interdependence between Ukraine and Russia in several key aspects shapes the context within which the EU and Russia compete to export their policies. Based on an analysis comparing the institutional rules underpinning the EU's external governance and the CIS rules as well as several sectoral analyses, we show that the effectiveness of external governance varies with patterns of interdependence. We identify sectoral differences in the extent of Ukraine's interdependence with Russia: it is low and receding in trade; medium in foreign policy and high in energy.

Politics in Time meets the politics of time: historical institutionalism and the EU timescape

Abstract: This article considers what light historical institutionalism (HI) may be able to shed on the European Union's (EU's) timescape. Drawing on Paul Pierson's work Politics in Time it reviews what HI has to say about the dual dynamics of path dependent incremental development and radical change (termed punctuated equilibrium or critical junctures) as well as relating to timing, sequencing and long-term processes. It then suggests three areas of EU studies for exploring these contrasting dynamics, namely the integration process as a whole, EU policy dynamics and Europeanization. Applications of HI in EU studies have tended to be empirical and have often neglected to engage with the temporal theorizing embraced by Pierson. The special issue's appeal for a new research agenda on the EU timescape offers the opportunity, it is argued, to rectify the insufficiency of theoretical reflection.

Political time in the EU : dimensions, perspectives, theories

Abstract: The manner in which time is institutionalized is critical to how a political system works. Terms, time budgets and time horizons of collective and individual political actors; rights over timing, sequencing and speed in decision-making; and the temporal properties of policy matter to the distribution of power; efficiency and effectiveness of policy-making; and democratic legitimacy. This article makes a case for the systematic study of political time in the European Union (EU) – both as an independent and a dependent variable – and highlights the analytical value-added of a time-centred analysis. The article discusses previous scholarship on the institutionalization of political time and its consequences along the dimensions of polity, politics and policy; and then reviews dominant perspectives on political time, which centre on power, system performance and legitimacy. These perspectives tie in with diverse theoretical traditions in the study of the EU. Taken together, dimensions, perspectives and theori...

Leaders and laggards in environmental policy: a quantitative analysis of domestic policy outputs

Abstract: This paper investigates the domestic characteristics of ‘leaders’ and ‘laggards’ in environmental policy in 21 European countries as well as the USA, Mexico and Japan from 1970. Data with regard to environmental policy strength are related to a set of potentially explanatory domestic factors. By way of the so-called gap approach, the distance or gap between current policy in a given country and the strictest policy available in the sample at the time is established. This is done for 40 environmental policy issues in all 24 countries and at four points in time (1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000). Mean country gaps for each point in time provide a picture of changing ‘leaders’ and ‘laggards’ in environmental policy, conforming only partly to conventional wisdom. Apparently, the international reputation of environmental ‘pioneers’ is not always matched by equally ambitious domestic policies. Statistical analysis identifies EU membership as the most important factor explaining a strong domestic policy output, whereas...

From membership conditionality to policy conditionality: EU external governance in South Eastern Europe

Abstract: In view of the uncertainty about the final outcome of the current enlargement process, how effective is the EU's acquis conditionality in South Eastern Europe? By elaborating on the example of justice and home affairs, the article argues that the EU's external leverage has remained strong, as the EU has developed additional ways to render its conditionality approach credible. Although the hurdles for entering the EU have been raised, Croatia's compliance efforts can be considered to be similar to the logic observed in the eastern enlargement. The key to understanding the compliance of Macedonia, whose membership prospect is less certain or even questionable, is to take into account policy conditionality in addition to membership conditionality. The EU managed to compensate for less credible membership rewards by substantially increasing the value of the policy reward of visa-free travel. This strategy was effective but has created tensions with regard to the EU's broader objectives in the region.

Social democrats and the new partisan politics of public investment in education

Abstract: This paper studies the impact on public education spending of social democratic participation in government. By means of a pooled time-series analysis of spending in OECD democracies, it is shown that social democrats have increased public spending primarily on higher education. This finding is at odds with simple class-based models of partisan preferences (Boix) that predict a preference for non-tertiary education. As an alternative, the notion of a ‘new politics of public investment in education’ (Iversen) is presented. From this perspective, political parties are not merely transmission belts for the economic interests of social classes, but use policies and spending strategically to attract and consolidate voter groups. By increasing public investment in tertiary education, social democrats cater to their core electoral constituencies (for example, by expanding enrolment) and, at the same time, new middle-class constituencies to escape electoral dilemmas and reforge the cross-class alliance with the m...

Hierarchy, networks, or markets : how does the EU shape environmental policy adoptions within and beyond its borders?

Abstract: In this study we scrutinize the strength of the European Union's ‘external governance’ in the area of environmental policy We explore whether accession candidates and third countries adopted European environmental legislation along with the member states In doing so, we focus on Community laws that limit nitrogen oxides in the emissions into the air from large combustion plants, and introduce the European ecolabel scheme and environmental impact assessments Our analysis reveals that hierarchical governance is the most significant and robust determinant of policy adoption Additionally, our results lend some support to the relevance of network governance, indicating that this mode could become more effective at greater length

Modes of external governance: a cross-national and cross-sectoral comparison

Abstract: Contrary to the vast majority of studies that try to characterize EU external governance by looking at the macro-structures of association relations, our comparative analysis shows that overarching foreign policy initiatives such as the EEA, Swiss–EU bilateralism or the ENP have little impact on the modes in which the EU seeks to expand its policy boundaries in individual sectors. In contrast, modes of external governance follow sectoral dynamics which are astonishingly stable across countries. These findings highlight the importance of institutional path-dependencies in projecting governance modes from the internal to the external constellation, and question the capacity to steer these functionalist patterns of external governance through rationally planned foreign policy initiatives.

Behind the scenes of differentiated integration: circumventing national opt-outs in Justice and Home Affairs

Abstract: This article examines the formal and informal practices of two champions of opting out, the United Kingdom and Denmark, in the area of Justice and Home Affairs. On the surface, both countries have chosen to avoid further integration within this policy area to safeguard national autonomy. Foreign policy experts have argued that national reservations lead to the loss of influence and possibly second-class membership, and legal scholars describe substantial opt-outs as a ‘hijacking’ of the acquis communautaire. This article demonstrates that opting out does not necessarily imply that member states are out in the cold. Both the UK and Denmark, it is argued, have influence and adapt to new EU legislation, even in politically sensitive areas covered by their protocols. National opt-outs are pragmatically circumvented in the consensus-oriented Council of Ministers.

Economic interests and public support for the euro

Abstract: Although economic theories have been advanced to explain public support for the common currency, we know very little about how public support for the euro has been affected by its economic impact. We hypothesize that concern about rising prices following the introduction of the euro may have dampened enthusiasm for the project. We use Eurobarometer data from 2000–2007 to examine how rising prices and other economic factors have shaped support for the euro. We find that while inflation has had a negative impact on support for the euro, this is offset by the positive effect of diffuse support for the European Union. This support, along with the impact of a strong currency, has led most (approximately two-thirds) of Europeans to be generally positive about the euro.

Wage inflation and labour unions in EMU

Abstract: This paper examines different levels of wage moderation in EMU member states since the introduction of the euro. Most arguments examining wage restraint have done so relying on the assumptions that relations between EMU member states are symmetric and that wage-setting systems are similar across sectors within one country. We introduce one innovation to these approaches and develop a second existing one. The paper adopts a dual-sector approach, where exposed sector unions are still tied to a competitiveness constraint on wages, while sheltered sector unions neither face a hard monetary constraint imposed by the central bank nor are subject to a competitive one. Wage moderation is higher in countries with wage-bargaining institutions which tie wage-setters in the sheltered sector to the exposed sector through a co-ordination mechanism. The second innovation is that of asymmetries between Germany and other EMU member states.

Sequencing in public policy: the evolution of the CAP over a decade

Abstract: This article sets out to bring the concept of reactive sequencing into policy studies and demonstrate its value in the analysis of policy reform. Reactive sequencing is based on the notion that early events in a sequence set in motion a chain of causally linked reactions and counter-reactions which trigger subsequent development. Since responses to earlier events may come in the form of counter-reactions, reactive sequences do not necessarily induce further movements in the same direction but remain open to a change of direction. Therefore, the approach is well suited to analyse substantial policy change over time. The analysis of agricultural reform in the European Union from 1992 to 2003 demonstrates that this approach to sequencing is useful. The MacSharry reform of 1992 set in motion a sequence of reactive reform events which resulted in the Fischler reform of 2003. Each reform event opened new opportunities for further reform.

The varieties of high-skilled immigration policies: coalitions and policy outputs in advanced industrial countries

Abstract: This paper presents a comparative political economy theoretical framework of high-skilled immigration (HSI) policies in advanced industrial countries. It seeks to explain the differences between countries' policies in terms of HSI openness. I take from the traditional partisanship approach that political parties will pursue policies consistent with the preferences of their major constituencies. I have divided labour and capital into high- and low-skilled sectors. I argue that, despite converging policy goals for more open HSI in order to fill labour market shortages, there continue to be differences between countries' HSI policies. No consistent HSI position between left and right parties exists cross-nationally because different coalitions between sectors of high-skilled labour, low-skilled labour and capital take place. I analyse more open or restrictive HSI outputs by portraying actors' preferences, aggregated in coalitions and intermediated by institutional constraints (labour market organization and ...

The analysis of policy convergence, or: how to chase a black cat in a dark room

Abstract: Political science research on policy convergence has largely remained inconclusive. While many studies found support for the convergence hypothesis, an almost equally large number of studies rejected it. Convergence thus could be a less general phenomenon than many theorists believe. This article identifies a second possible explanation. The variance approach, which dominates political science research on policy convergence, is likely to lead to wrong inferences. Analysing various artificially generated convergence processes, we find that neither the variance approach nor the coefficient of variation detects convergence when it is conditional or when theoretically unidentified convergence clubs exist. Our analysis suggests that researchers should estimate rather than measure convergence. By estimating convergence researchers may (a) test the causal relationship, (b) account for conditional convergence, (c) control for the existence of convergence clubs, and (d) examine convergence to an equilibrium level ...

EU policy towards other regions: policy learning in the external promotion of regional integration

Abstract: Since the 1990s, the European Union (EU) has renewed its support for regional integration in other parts of the world, and incorporated this objective as a part of European external policy. Compared to the embryonic common foreign and security policy (CFSP), the support for regional integration and co-operation has been much less controversial, having been publicly endorsed by European Commission officials, and identified in the policy publications emanating from the various Directorate Generals (DGs). This article adopts a policy learning perspective to investigate this departure in external policy by the EU, and to identify the explanatory capacity of collective learning for the core beliefs, preferences, and policy instruments eventually adopted by European policy-makers. The article identifies what types of learning have taken place, and assesses the impact of learning on the policy outputs and outcomes.

Which rules shape EU external governance? Patterns of rule selection in foreign and security policies

Abstract: This article addresses a particular aspect of EU external governance: rule selection. Drawing on institutionalist and power-based explanations we put forward an account for the choice of the specific rules that guide policy convergence between the EU and third countries. The proposed analytical framework broadens the scope of the studies examining the externalization of EU rules beyond its borders, in that we claim that the EU can promote policy convergence using rules other than the EU's. More specifically, the EU also promotes policy convergence on the basis of international and bilaterally developed rules. These analytical claims for explaining rule selection are checked against empirical data. We compare policy convergence between the EU and four neighbouring countries (Morocco, Ukraine, Georgia, and Russia) in three subfields within foreign and security policy: foreign policy dialogue, control of export of dual-use goods in the context of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and crisis m...

Organisational learning in the EU's multilevel governance system

Abstract: The European Union's (EU's) governance reform does not match the expectations of its promoters; the ‘new’ instruments seem to under-perform. One explanation, explored here, is that governance has been discussed without much attention to capacities at operating levels. Analyses are needed of how instruments are used and designed within the EU's multi-level administrative system. To move from governance to capacities, three interrelated levels of learning are distinguished to examine whether changes in governance are supported by developments in organizational capacities: ‘governance learning’, ‘instrument learning’ and ‘organizational learning’. One hypothesis is that these need to develop simultaneously. The second hypothesis is that, in the EU's multi-level administration, learning along these dimensions has to take place in parallel at EU and national levels. This article analyses the capacities which the Commission and the Netherlands have created to support the better regulation agenda. It concludes t...