scholarly journals I do it my way. Understanding policy variation in pandemic response across Europe

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clara Egger ◽  
Raul Magni-Berton ◽  
Sébastian Roché ◽  
Kees Aarts
Keyword(s):  
Policy Making ◽  
Policy Coordination ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Structural Determinants ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Democratic Experience ◽  
Pandemic Response ◽  
Enforcement Mechanisms ◽  
New Research ◽  
Policy Variation

To contain the spread of the Covid-19, governments have designed and implemented a large range of exceptional measures. Yet, the restrictive nature of the policy options chosen and the severity of their enforcement mechanisms considerably vary across countries. Focusing on the case of the European Union – a group of closely connected nations which develop some forms of supranational policy coordination to manage the pandemic -, we first map the diversity of policy responses taken using two original indicators : the stringency and scope of freedom limitations and the depth of control used in their enforcement. Second, we elaborate a comprehensive set of eight hypotheses to explain cross-national variation in pandemic policy-making. Our exploratory results – based on bivariate statistical associations – reveal that structural determinants – the level of political and interpersonal trust, a country’s overall resources, democratic experience and, to a lesser extent, political check and balances – shape crisis policy-making more than conjectural factors such as the magnitude of the crisis at stake. These results call for further research into the determinants of crisis policy-making that we propose to address with a new research project focusing on the modalities, determinants and impacts of exceptional decision making in times of Covid-19.

scholarly journals I Do it My Way: Understanding Policy Variation in Pandemic Response Across Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clara Marie Egger ◽  
Raul Magni-Berton ◽  
Sebastian Roché ◽  
Kees Aarts
Keyword(s):  
Policy Making ◽  
Policy Coordination ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Structural Determinants ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Democratic Experience ◽  
Enforcement Mechanisms ◽  
New Research ◽  
Policy Variation

To contain the spread of the COVID-19, governments have designed and implemented a large range of exceptional measures. Yet, the restrictive nature of the policy options chosen and the severity of their enforcement mechanisms considerably vary across countries. Focusing on the case of the European Union—a group of closely connected nations which develop some forms of supranational policy coordination to manage the pandemic—, we first map the diversity of policy responses taken using two original indicators: the stringency and scope of freedom limitations and the depth of control used in their enforcement. Second, we elaborate three theoretical scenarios to explain cross-national variation in pandemic policy-making. Our exploratory results—based on bivariate statistical associations—reveal that structural determinants (the level of political and interpersonal trust, a country’s overall resources, democratic experience and, to a lesser extent, political check and balances) shape crisis policy-making more than crisis-related factors such as the magnitude of the crisis at stake. These results call for further research into the determinants of crisis policy-making that we propose to address with a new research project focusing on the modalities, determinants and impacts of exceptional decision making in times of COVID-19.

13. Environmental Policy

2020 ◽  
pp. 297-320
Author(s):  
Andrea Lenschow
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Policy Coordination ◽  
Historical Evolution ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Environmental Interest Groups ◽  
The Eu

This chapter focuses on the European Union’s environmental policy, the development of which was characterized by institutional deepening and the substantial expansion of environmental issues covered by EU decisions and regulations. Environmental policy presents a host of challenges for policy-makers, including the choice of appropriate instruments, improvement of implementation performance, and better policy coordination at all levels of policy-making. The chapter points to the continuing adaptations that have been made in these areas. It first considers the historical evolution of environmental policy in the EU before discussing the main actors in EU environmental policy-making, namely: the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and environmental interest groups. The chapter also looks at the EU as an international actor.

13. Environmental Policy Contending Dynamics of Policy Change

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Lenschow
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Policy Coordination ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Environmental Interest Groups ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Made In

This chapter focuses on the European Union’s environmental policy, the development of which was characterized by institutional deepening and the substantial expansion of environmental issues covered by EU decisions and regulations. Environmental policy presents a host of challenges for policymakers, including the choice of appropriate instruments, improvement of implementation performance, and better policy coordination at all levels of policy-making. The chapter points to the continuing adaptations that have been made in these areas. It first considers the historical evolution of environmental policy in the EU before discussing the main actors in EU environmental policy-making, namely: the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and environmental interest groups. The chapter also looks at the EU as an international actor.

12. Digital Policy-Making in the European Union

2020 ◽  
pp. 275-296
Author(s):  
Abraham L. Newman
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Data Privacy ◽  
Policy Coordination ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Private Governance ◽  
Market Growth ◽  
New Information ◽  
Transgovernmental Networks ◽  
Governance Modes

Digital technologies are transforming European societies, politics, and markets. Since the 1970s, the European Union has attempted to navigate these pressures through a package of digital policy-making. These efforts have targeted the dual missions of pan-European market-making, as well as market correction. Relying on a host of governance modes including the regulatory method, policy coordination, incorporated transgovernmental networks, and private governance, the European Union has tried to steer the new information society so as to both spur market growth and protect citizens against abuse. The ultimate success of these efforts has been encumbered by the overall complexity of the sector, where policy efforts quickly bleed over into other issue areas, such as competition policy and justice and home affairs, and have international consequences. Digital policy-making in Europe faces considerable challenges ahead, as EU institutions grapple with the rise of platform companies, disinformation campaigns, and transatlantic disputes over data privacy and the market power of US-based technology companies.

Five Lessons from European Democracy

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Matijasevich
Keyword(s):  
Political Community ◽  
Political Transformation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Democratic Development ◽  
Track Record ◽  
European Democracy ◽  
Democratic Experience ◽  
Theory Of Democracy ◽  
The Eu

Outside of some states still struggling with post-communist transitions, Europe itself may be the first European democracy to collapse in decades. Though never a bastion of participatory democracy and even subject to continuous criticism due to its democratic deficit, the European Union (EU) has provided hope to those who envision a post-national democratic political community. As such, whether the EU survives its present crisis or not, cosmopolitan democrats will look to the EU as a vindication of their ideals. Though perhaps surprising given their track record, this paper will argue that political scientists, especially those concerned with democratization, can also be optimistic about what the EU has brought to the table in terms of how we conceive processes of democratic development. Throughout the paper it will be demonstrated that the creation and maintenance of the European democracy has challenged much of the literature's fundamental assumptions of what makes democracy work. Five key lessons from the European democratic experience will be presented in an attempt to disrupt some of these assumptions including lessons regarding the diversity of the demos, the contingency of democratic upkeep, the challenges of the state, the role of elites in political transformation, and the necessity of exclusion within inclusive spaces. Though a general theory of democracy will not be presented, suggestions will be made as to how we can incorporate some of these lessons into the dominant approaches to democracy found in the literature.   Full text available at: https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v7i1.214

Corruption and anti-corruption local discourses and international practices in post-socialist Romania

Human Affairs ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Filippo Zerilli
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Past ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Nation States ◽  
National Heritage ◽  
New Research ◽  
Local Discourses ◽  
The Cold War

AbstractIn the past two decades academic and research literature on “corruption” has flourished. During the same period organizations and initiatives fighting against corruption have also significantly expanded, turning “anti-corruption” into a new research subject. However, despite a few exceptions there is a division of labor between scholars who study corruption itself and those who study the global anti-corruption industry. Juxtaposing corruption’s local discourses and anti-corruption international practices, this article is an attempt to bring together these two intertwined research dimensions and explore how an ethnographic approach might contribute to framing them together. Firstly, it describes how corruption in Romania is often conceptualized and explained in terms of national heritage, something related to old and recent cultural history, including traditional folklore. Secondly, it explores how anti-corruption works in practice, focusing on international legal cooperation projects monitoring the progress and shortcomings both prior to and post Romania’s accession to the European Union. Finally, revealing the articulations of these two apparently unrelated research fields, the article argues that corruption’s local explanations and the circular logic of auditing observed within the anti-corruption industry share a common developmental ideology mirroring the crypto-colonialist structure of power relations and dependency among European nation-states emerging out of the Cold War.

UK-wide health policy under the Coalition

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Social Care ◽  
The Other ◽  
Executive Orders ◽  
Health Reforms ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Health And Social Care

A volume on health reforms under the Coalition must necessarily expand its focus beyond Westminster to consider the larger UK policy context. Legislation enacted in 1998 established devolved assemblies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with power to make law or issue executive orders in certain specified areas, including health services. This meant that an English NHS overseen by the Westminster Parliament now existed alongside separate NHS systems accountable to devolved governments in the other UK countries. Thus, the major Coalition health reforms heralded by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 applied in the main to England only. However, devolved administrations needed to formulate appropriate policy responses that either maintained differences or moved closer to the English policies. This chapter describes the divergent approaches between the four UK NHS systems, but also sheds light on the nature of coalition policy making.

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