1,720,976 research outputs found
Institutional Barriers and the Common Agriculture Policy
No full textThis project sets out to show institutional barriers in negotiating a radical CAP reform. The research question is: "Which institutional barriers are embedded in the EU decision-making process that are able to impede radical reform of the CAP?" The analysis is based on two theoretical approaches; first the Principal agent and second the policy network approach.This project sets out to show institutional barriers in negotiating a radical CAP reform. The research question is: "Which institutional barriers are embedded in the EU decision-making process that are able to impede radical reform of the CAP?" The analysis is based on two theoretical approaches; first the Principal agent and second the policy network approach
Portugal: From exception to the epicentre
Full text linkPortugal benefited from late exposure to the COVID pandemic, as the local community transmission was only observed from March 2020 onwards. Portugal’s response to the health crisis was initially framed as a success due to the limited intensity of infection rates. However, this narrative was severely challenge by a spike in daily cases observed in January 2021 due to the lifting of restrictions during the Christmas season. To tackle uncontrolled virus dissemination, the government imposed two periods of national lockdown. In political terms, the health crisis failed to enhance the polarization of the political system as a close coordination was observed between the Portuguese President of the Republic and the Prime-Minister. Likewise, a consensual approach was adopted by the main opposition party towards the government. Nonetheless, the health crisis provoked distress regarding the support of the Portuguese left-wing parties for the Socialist minority government.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio
Elite Decision Makers' Strategic Use of European Integration and Globalisation Discourses: Irish and Danish Banking Sector Reforms in the 1990s and 2000s
No full textThis article investigates decision makers' strategic use of European integration and globalisation discourses to justify and coordinate national sector reforms. This is done using the example of banking sector reforms in two small European Union (EU) member states, Ireland and Denmark. Two key arguments are put forward: (1) National governments' ability to make credible claims about their ability to influence the direction of European integration is crucial in enabling them to justify sector reforms. Thus, as a full member of the European Monetary Union (EMU), Irish decision makers are able to make credible claims about their influence on European financial integration, an option not available to Danish decision makers since Denmark is not a Eurozone member; (2) Globalisation comprises a particularly compelling set of discourses which enables decision makers to carry through sector reforms in line with European integration measures, even in the absence of national commitment to the latter. Discourses of globalisation have thus become ‘the last resort’ for Danish decision makers in justifying and coordinating reforms that are in line with EU regulations and recommendations.This article investigates decision makers’ strategic use of European integration and globalisation discourses to justify and coordinate national sector reforms. This is done using the example of banking sector reforms in two small European Union (EU) member states, Ireland and Denmark. Two key arguments are put forward: (1) National governments’ ability to make credible claims about their ability to influence the direction of European integration is crucial in enabling them to justify sector reforms. Thus, as a full member of the European Monetary Union (EMU), Irish decision makers are able to make credible claims about their influence on European financial integration, an option not available to Danish decision makers since Denmark is not a Eurozone member; (2) Globalisation comprises a particularly compelling set of discourses which enables decision makers to carry through sector reforms in line with European integration measures, even in the absence of national commitment to the latter. Discourses of globalisation have thus become ‘the last resort’ for Danish decision makers in justifying and coordinating reforms that are in line with EU regulations and recommendations
Domestic change in the face of European integration and globalization: Methodological pitfalls and pathways
Full text linkBefore the early 2000s, research on Europeanization and globalization developed largely independently of each other. Since then a limited, yet increasing, number of studies have shown an interest in investigating and differentiating between the domestic implications of European integration - known as Europeanization - and trends which are usually seen as having a broader global application including market liberalization, the construction of global institutions and policies. While research concerned with domestic change in the face of European integration and globalization in itself is a reaction to pressing epistemological concerns within the Europeanization literature, this in-the-making research agenda is also faced with a number of methodological challenges. This article deals with some of the most pressing methodological challenges we face when conducting empirical research and moving towards more comprehensive accounts of domestic change. Drawing on methodologies known from comparative politics and discourse analysis, the article argues in favour of three methodological moves: (1) from top-down towards bottom-up methodological set-ups; (2) from counterfactual analysis towards compound temporal comparative and cross-country research designs; and (3) from hypothesis tests towards multiple theoretical analysis.Before the early 2000s, research on Europeanization and globalization developed largely independently of each other. Since then a limited, yet increasing, number of studies have shown an interest in investigating and differentiating between the domestic implications of European integration - known as Europeanization - and trends which are usually seen as having a broader global application including market liberalization, the construction of global institutions and policies. While research concerned with domestic change in the face of European integration and globalization in itself is a reaction to pressing epistemological concerns within the Europeanization literature, this in-the-making research agenda is also faced with a number of methodological challenges. This article deals with some of the most pressing methodological challenges we face when conducting empirical research and moving towards more comprehensive accounts of domestic change. Drawing on methodologies known from comparative politics and discourse analysis, the article argues in favour of three methodological moves: (1) from top-down towards bottom-up methodological set-ups; (2) from counterfactual analysis towards compound temporal comparative and cross-country research designs; and (3) from hypothesis tests towards multiple theoretical analysis
Methodological Challenges in the Study of Emotions in Politics and How to Deal With Them
No full textThis introductory article to the special issue zooms in on the literature on political emotions with a specific focus on methodological questions of “how to study” political emotions. To the extent that methodological matters are addressed in the extant literature, the associated challenges are often portrayed as a clash between social science and natural science disciplines, a clash frequently illustrated by the meeting between political science and neuroscience. Rather than being a clash between academic disciplines, this article argues that many of the methodological challenges facing emotional research have their origin in scholars’ diverse views on the relationship between themselves as researchers and political emotions as a research object. In the light of this acknowledgment, the article encircles and discusses the methodological challenges associated with three key conceptual distinctions between: (1) individual and collective emotions, (2) emotions and reason, and between(3) involuntary political emotions and the strategic usage of political emotions. Using the contributions to this special issue as illustrations, the article argues in favor of moving beyond mutually exclusive dichotomies regarding these conceptual distinctions and offers pathways for dealing with current methodological challenges to emotional research. It points to methodological pluralism, transparency, and context-sensitive research strategies
The Roles of Images in EU Politics
No full textThe purpose of this article is to advance our understanding of the role of visual discourse in day-to-day European Union (EU) politics. The article presents an analytical framework allowing for a fourfold view on the roles of images in politics; namely, images as: (1) emblems underpinning actors' interests, (2) representations of collective meaning-making, (3) means of domination and (4) ordering devices for including/excluding actors and ideas in politics. The article zooms in on the EU Commission visual discourse and analyses images from three Directorate-General flagship magazines. The article argues that, the Commission adheres – and increasingly so – to a visual discourse allowing the Commission to set policy agendas and frame policy options, while avoiding creating adversaries among other key actors in EU politics. It also allows for identity-building, while eschewing further estranging publics sceptical of EU supranationalism and keeping political actors in favour of common EU policies on board.</p
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