Showing papers in "Journal of European Public Policy in 2018"
TL;DR: The authors argue that the perforation of national states by immigration, integration and trade may signify a critical juncture in the political development of Europe no less consequential for political parties and party systems than the previous junctures that Lipset and Rokkan detect in their classic article.
Abstract: This article argues that the perforation of national states by immigration, integration and trade may signify a critical juncture in the political development of Europe no less consequential for political parties and party systems than the previous junctures that Lipset and Rokkan detect in their classic article. We present evidence suggesting that (1) party systems are determined in episodic breaks from the past; (2) political parties are programmatically inflexible; and, (3) as a consequence, party system change comes in the form of rising parties.
676 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the three dominant approaches to European integration cannot fully explain why the two most recent crises of the European Union (EU) resulted in very different outcome.
Abstract: This contribution argues that the three dominant approaches to European integration cannot fully explain why the two most recent crises of the European Union (EU) resulted in very different outcome...
291 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyse how EU social objectives and policy co-ordination have been integrated into the Union's post-crisis governance architecture, highlighting the contribution of strategic agency, reflexive learning and creative adaptation by social and employment actors to the new institutional conditions of the European Semester, building on recent theoretical work on actor-centred constructivism and theusages of Europe.
Abstract: This contribution analyses how EU social objectives and policy co-ordination have been integrated into the Union’s post-crisis governance architecture. It argues that between 2011 and 2016, there was a partial but progressive ‘socialization’ of the ‘European Semester’ of policy co-ordination, in terms of increasing emphasis on social objectives in its priorities and key messages, including the Country-Specific Recommendations; intensified social monitoring and review of national reforms; and an enhanced decision-making role for EU social and employment actors. In explaining these developments, the contribution highlights the contribution of strategic agency, reflexive learning and creative adaptation by social and employment actors to the new institutional conditions of the Semester, building on recent theoretical work on ‘actor-centred constructivism’ and the ‘usages of Europe’.
145 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined EU co-operation in asylum and migration that culminated in 2015 to determine whether crises are integral to a cyclical process of EU integration rather than occasional events caused by external shocks.
Abstract: By advancing integration through incomplete agreements, the European Union (EU) has created the very conditions for the emergence of crises, and this has, in turn, spurred on further agreements to deepen integration. Employing this theoretical lens, this article examines EU co-operation in asylum and migration that culminated in 2015 to determine whether crises are, in fact, integral to a cyclical process of EU integration rather than occasional events caused by external shocks. This is done by examining the failures and crises that emerged in migration and asylum policy up to 2015 and the agreements struck at EU level to address them. It is found that despite nominal action to address the weak monitoring mechanisms in use to date and incremental reinforcement of the constellation of institutions operating in this area, no solution has dealt with the critical lack of solidarity and absence of centralized institutions at the root of these issues.
138 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors start from an established postfunctionalist explanation of differentiated integration and claim that it also explains demand for disintegration, and conclude that demanders of disintegration moderate their demands and make concessions to the EU during negotiations.
Abstract: The decision of the Cameron government to renegotiate the terms of UK membership and to hold an in-out referendum has triggered a novel process in European integration: differentiated disintegration, the selective reduction of a member state's level and scope of integration. The article starts from an established postfunctionalist explanation of differentiated integration and claims that it also explains demand for disintegration. In this perspective, Brexit resulted from a mix of integration effects (immigration) challenging self-determination, the rise of a Eurosceptic party, and the availability of referendums. By contrast, the institutional and material bargaining power of states demanding disintegration is considerably lower than that of states demanding opt-outs in the context of integration negotiations. Consequently, demanders of disintegration moderate their demands and make concessions to the EU in the course of negotiations. The ongoing UK-EU disintegration negotiations confirm this exp...
131 citations
TL;DR: The authors put forward a neofunctional explanation of these different outcomes, which emphasizes variation in transnational interdependence and supranational capacity across the two policy areas, and pointed out that the Euro crisis has brought about a major deepening of integration, while the Schengen crisis has not.
Abstract: The European Union has gone through major crises of its two flagship integration projects of the 1990s: the euro and Schengen. Both crises had structurally similar causes and beginnings: exogenous shocks exposed the functional shortcomings of both integration projects and produced sharp distributional conflict among governments, as well as an unprecedented politicization of European integration in member state societies. Yet they have resulted in significantly different outcomes: whereas the euro crisis has brought about a major deepening of integration, the Schengen crisis has not. I put forward a neofunctionalist explanation of these different outcomes, which emphasizes variation in transnational interdependence and supranational capacity across the two policy areas.
129 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines the implications of the euro crisis for theories of political economy associated with "varieties of capitalism" considering how those theories help explain the origins of the crisis and how developments during it mandate revisions in such theories.
Abstract: This article examines the implications of the euro crisis for theories of political economy associated with ‘varieties of capitalism’, considering how those theories help explain the origins of the crisis and how developments during it mandate revisions in such theories. Efforts to understand the crisis have extended these theories in four directions. They have inspired an emerging literature on growth models that integrates the demand side of the economy into theories once oriented to its supply side. They have led to more intensive investigation of the political economies of East Central Europe and Southern Europe. The crisis has drawn attention to the international dimensions of varieties of capitalism and to problems of adjustment, injecting an element of dynamism into varieties of capitalism analyses and underlining that adjustment is a political as well as an economic problem.
116 citations
TL;DR: The authors delineates the sui generis paradigmatic portent of the social investment perspective in welfare state analysis, after theoretically defining the notion of a policy paradigm in welfare-state analysis.
Abstract: This contribution delineates the sui generis paradigmatic portent of the social investment perspective. After theoretically defining the notion of a policy paradigm in welfare state analysis, the s...
97 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that the Matthew effect in the use of formal childcare services is present in almost all European countries: disadvantaged children are less likely to use childcare than more advantaged children.
Abstract: Under the social investment paradigm, formal childcare services are heralded as being the policy instrument par excellence to combat social exclusion. However, it was shown that a Matthew effect (ME) in its use is present in almost all European countries: disadvantaged children are less likely to use childcare than more advantaged children. In this contribution we aim to uncover the cause of the ME by distinguishing between supply-side and demand-side explanations. This refers to constraints in the availability or affordability of childcare and to dominant cultural norms on motherhood. In doing so, we take due account of the role of employment. The results show that the ME in formal childcare cannot be explained by class differences in employment. Moreover, the ME is related to the supply-side and much less to the demand-side. Structural constraints in childcare provision matter everywhere and tend to limit the uptake of childcare, especially for disadvantaged children. In contrast, cultural norms...
90 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that party and electoral politics in the Netherlands are increasingly characterized by both an economic left-right as well as a cosmopolitan-parochial divide, which relates to issues of state intervention into the economy, the second refers to stances on European integration, migration and national control in international affairs.
Abstract: Recent election outcomes in Europe and beyond reflect a growing scepticism of open borders among the public. From the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom to the election of Donald Trump in the United States, rhetoric that is critical of the organizations facilitating policy co-operation and learning across borders as well as international trade and migration is popular among a growing segment of the electorate. Are these recent developments part of a larger trend of party and electoral change? By focusing on changing patterns in party and electoral competition in the Netherlands, this article suggests that they are. Relying on expert and voter data, it argues that party and electoral politics in the Netherlands are increasingly characterized by both an economic left–right as well as a cosmopolitan–parochial divide. While the former relates to issues of state intervention into the economy, the second refers to stances on European integration, migration and national control in international affairs. T...
86 citations
TL;DR: In this article, social investment has recently received much attention among policy-makers and welfare state scholars, but the existing literature remains focused on policy-making on the macro-level.
Abstract: Social investment has recently received much attention among policy-makers and welfare state scholars, but the existing literature remains focused on policy-making on the macro level. We ex...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a general framework that incorporates both structura and structure to find an explanation for the Paris Agreement on climate change adopted in December 2015, which reflects EU policy objectives to large extent.
Abstract: The Paris Agreement on climate change adopted in December 2015 reflects EU policy objectives to large extent. To find an explanation, we develop a general framework that incorporates both structura...
TL;DR: This paper examined the link between recent EU crises and the development of party-based Euroscepticism across Europe, and drew on data from expert surveys with qualitative data to outline the way...
Abstract: This paper examines the link between recent EU crises and the development of party-based Euroscepticism across Europe. It draws on data from expert surveys with qualitative data to outline the way ...
TL;DR: The European Semester as mentioned in this paper is a framework for policy co-ordination across European Union (EU) member states, which represents a major step in EU governance and has been used to provide a new socioeconomic governance architecture to coordinate national policies without transferring full sovereignty to the EU level.
Abstract: The ‘European Semester’, a new framework for policy co-ordination across European Union (EU) member states, represents a major step in EU governance. Created in 2010 in the wake of the financial and sovereign debt crises and revamped in 2015, it was intended to provide a new socioeconomic governance architecture to co-ordinate national policies without transferring full sovereignty to the EU level. This introduction offers a brief overview and assessment of the European Semester, examining its implications along three critical axes, running respectively between the economic and the social, the supranational and the intergovernmental, and the technocratic and democratic poles of EU governance. We introduce and briefly summarize the seven other contributions that make up this collection. Our conclusions are that the European Semester challenges established theoretical understandings of EU governance, as it is a prime example of the complexity that supersedes simple polar oppositions.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider how Britain's historic policy and political dynamics on migration led to the outcome of the EU referendum and how the outcome was influenced by public opinion accounts for Brexit.
Abstract: Moving beyond short-term public opinion accounts for Brexit this article considers how Britain's historic policy and political dynamics on migration led to the outcome of the EU referendum and how ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that parliamentary powers have been compromised in EU economic governance and that the loss in parliamentary powers is not compensated at the European level, as at that level political authority is effectively left suspended between the national governments who are unaccountable as a collective, and the European Commission which lacks a political mandate of its own.
Abstract: How has the new structure of European Union (EU) economic governance affected the ability of parliaments (national and European) to scrutinize and control economic policy? Departing from the premise that executive power needs to be matched by appropriate parliamentary control, this contribution argues that parliamentary powers have been compromised in EU economic governance. Although budgetary powers remain formally at the national level, governments’ decisions have become constrained and national parliaments find themselves on the losing side of a reinforced two-level game. This loss in parliamentary powers is not compensated at the European level, as at that level political authority is effectively left suspended between the national governments, who are unaccountable as a collective, and the European Commission, which lacks a political mandate of its own. Against this background, a final section identifies guidelines for organizing parliamentary accountability in settings, like EU economic gove...
TL;DR: The authors argue that existing theories of European integration offer little purchase on the problems facing the European Union today, and propose new theories of disintegration, but they remain disjointed and ill-suited.
Abstract: Existing theories of European integration offer little purchase on the problems facing the European Union today. New theories of disintegration are emerging, but they remain disjointed. The purpose...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine why and how European Union agencies involve non-state stakeholders via three access mechanisms: public consultations, stakeholder bodies, and representation in management boards, concluding that stakeholder involvement is a double-edged sword, contributing to agency accountability and control, but with an inevitable risk of dependence on the regul...
Abstract: This article examines why and how European Union agencies involve non-state stakeholders – such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), business associations or trade unions – via three access instruments: public consultations; stakeholder bodies; and representation in management boards. We assess how the use of these instruments varies across agencies, and how they are linked to different motivations driving the demand for stakeholder participation. We present two alternative sets of hypotheses, first focusing on agencies’ need for information, organizational capacity and reputation, and second, considering stakeholder involvement as an instrument of legislative control. We draw on a new dataset of stakeholder involvement practices of the full population of EU agencies, compiled via document analysis and interviews. Our findings indicate that stakeholder involvement is a double-edged sword, contributing to agency accountability and control, but with an inevitable risk of dependence on the regul...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined how cosmopolitanism structures people's willingness to redistribute internationally within the European Union and found that cosmopolitanness increases generosity towards other Europeans and support for international redistribution even when controlling for self-interest, support for national redistribution, concern for others and political ideology.
Abstract: The political fault lines surrounding the European sovereign debt crisis have underlined the political relevance and the fragile foundation of public support for international redistribution in the European Union. Against the backdrop of an emerging political integration-demarcation divide, this contribution examines how cosmopolitanism structures people’s willingness to redistribute internationally within the European Union. To this aim, we conducted laboratory experiments on redistributive behaviour towards other European citizens in the United Kingdom and Germany and analysed cross-national survey data on support for international redistribution covering the EU-28. Our findings suggest that cosmopolitanism increases generosity towards other Europeans and support for international redistribution even when controlling for self-interest, support for national redistribution, concern for others and political ideology.
TL;DR: Recent jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) marks a striking shift towards a more restrictive interpretation of EU citizens' rights as discussed by the authors, which is not only highly releva...
Abstract: Recent jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) marks a striking shift towards a more restrictive interpretation of EU citizens’ rights. The Court's turnaround is not only highly releva...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated whether migration policies in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries have become more liberal or restrictive over the last decades and found that the latter is the case.
Abstract: This article investigates whether migration policies in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries have become more liberal or restrictive over the last decades and whe...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors demonstrate how drawing on new institutionalism and policy analysis literature can generate new insights in three important areas of migration policy research: the dynamics of preference formation of member states and EU institutions, the relative power and influence of members and institutions, and their impact on the domestic politics and policies of members states.
Abstract: European Union (EU) asylum and immigration politics and policies have witnessed a major change since their communitarization in the early 2000s. Studies on EU migration, however, do not agree on the impact that EU institutions now have on policy outputs and outcomes. While some argue that supranational institutions are able to impose ‘liberal constraints’ on member states, other studies consider them unable to shift the ‘policy core’ of EU migration policies. Many of these disagreements stem from unspecified theoretical assumptions and very different methods to assess influence and change. This research agenda demonstrates how drawing on new institutionalism and policy analysis literature can generate new insights in three important areas of migration policy research: the dynamics of preference formation of member states and EU institutions, the relative power and influence of member states and EU institutions, and their impact on the domestic politics and policies of member states.
TL;DR: In this article, the role of the EU institutions in guiding the EMU reform process is analyzed and the implications of this type of collaborative leadership at the level of agents, arenas, process and substance.
Abstract: This article analyses the role of the EU institutions in guiding the EMU reform process. Many have argued that the institutions have had to adapt to a ‘constraining’ environment in which EU negotiations are highly salient and touch upon ‘core state powers’. To explain how they have been adapting, we provide a detailed process tracing analysis of their role in setting up the banking union. We use insights from principal-agent (PA) theorizing, but extend this framework to account for situations in which there are multiple agents. The analysis shows that in spite of overlapping interests, functional imperatives and a crisis atmosphere, there was nothing inevitable about the banking union. It came about through new patterns of institutional collaboration at different stages and between different levels of decision making. We explore the implications of this type of collaborative leadership at the level of agents, arenas, process and substance.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate whether active labour market policies manage to reach the most disadvantaged individuals or are subjected to Matthew effects in the shape of access biases in the form of access bias.
Abstract: The objective of this contribution is to investigate whether active labour market policies manage to reach the most disadvantaged individuals or are subjected to Matthew effects in the shape of access biases. We investigate this question for two typically disadvantaged groups of unemployed people: the low-skilled and immigrants. Our analysis is based on a systematic review of 87 evaluations of active labour market policies (ALMPs) covering 14 different countries and a time period of 15 years (1998–2013). We use information on participants and non-participants to ascertain whether or not access biases are present in these programmes. Our results provide evidence that a Matthew effect is present only in some programmes and in conservative welfare states but not in the Nordic countries. Our conclusion is that policies are generally explicitly targeted on the most disadvantaged (good intentions) but other factors limit their participation (Matthew effects), something which explains the mixed pattern t...
TL;DR: The consequences and implications of Brexit on the nature and character of Franco-German "embedded bilateralism" in Europe, the relative influence of Berlin and Paris in EU policymaking, a... as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: What are the consequences and implications of Brexit on the nature and character of Franco-German ‘embedded bilateralism’ in Europe, the relative influence of Berlin and Paris in EU policymaking, a...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that not all business politics is "quiet politics" and explore the conditions of when this is likely to be the case, arguing that noisy business politics seeks political influence through pressuring by raising the salience of an issue and expanding the conflict.
Abstract: This article argues that not all business politics is ‘quiet politics’ and it explores the conditions of when this is likely to be the case. Drawing on a remarkable lobbying success in the process of reforming banking in Europe, it shows that it was neither capture nor quiet politics within the financial expert community that led to the lobbying success. Business lobbyists from Germany, supported by representatives from other countries, obtained a favourable regulatory treatment of bank lending to small and medium-sized businesses thanks to noisy business politics. Noisy business politics seeks political influence through pressuring by raising the salience of an issue and expanding the conflict. This strategy is most likely to succeed if the mobilization of opponents can be countervailed through the use of frames that are widely perceived as legitimate and create positive perceptions.
TL;DR: The consequences of the BREXIT vote in June 2016 will take many years to be fully understood as mentioned in this paper, and the focus of the debate has shifted from whether there should be a BREEXIT at all to what kind of BREXITION...
Abstract: The consequences of the BREXIT vote in June 2016 will take many years to be fully understood. The focus of the debate has shifted from whether there should be a BREXIT at all to what kind of BREXIT...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed Latvian economic policy during the period 2008-2014 when the country was simultaneously subject to three European Union (EU) economic governance frameworks (the European Semeste...
Abstract: The paper analyses Latvian economic policy during the period 2008–2014 when the country was simultaneously subject to three European Union (EU) economic governance frameworks – the European Semeste...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the role of political resistance, political resistance and domestic accountability in explaining different records of prosecution of political corruption in Albania and Croatia in the Western Balkans.
Abstract: Why has the European Union’s (EU’s) promotion of rule of law (RoL) triggered different and largely surface-thin reforms across countries subject to a similar frame of enlargement in the Western Balkans (WB)? We hypothesize that the domestic (non-)enforcement of EU-promoted rules depends on the mobilization of politically autonomous constituencies of change – organized advocacy groups and autonomous state institutions – which enable democratic accountability. The empirical investigation focuses on the prosecution of political corruption as empirical foci to assessing the travails of EU-promoted rules in the domestic context. Specifically, we trace the role of (1) EU’s RoL promotion strategy, (2) political resistance and (3) domestic accountability in explaining different records of prosecution of political corruption in Albania and Croatia.
TL;DR: In this paper, the saliency attributions of actors for 125 European Union legislative policies were investigated. But the salience attributions were not correlated with specific policies, but with actors' interest groups, the media, and the policymakers.
Abstract: This research agenda starts from the observation that, in most political science research, the salience which citizens, interest groups, policymakers and the media attach to policymaking processes on specific policies is usually measured for just one actor type. As a consequence, it is difficult to assess the extent to which the salience attributions of citizens, interest groups, the media and/or policymakers are interrelated. We thus undertake an explorative analysis of the salience attributions of these actors for a sample of 125 European Union legislative policies. We find considerable differences but also some interdependencies across actor types in the salience that they attach to specific policies. Based on these findings, we suggest a research agenda that investigates different actor types’ salience attributions synchronically and dynamically. Research along these routes has the potential to shed light on varying levels of European Union-level political mobilization and the conditions that ...