European Policy Analysis最新文献

{"title":"Emotions and policy change in the wake of political scandals: How did the Qatargate shake the European Parliament?","authors":"Rosa Sanchez Salgado,&nbsp;Seda Gürkan","doi":"10.1002/epa2.70001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/epa2.70001","url":null,"abstract":"<p>While there is an increasing interest in the role of emotions in policy studies, not much is known about how emotions unfold in one of the most emotional situations that can be encountered in politics: political scandals. To investigate how the discursive articulation of emotions shapes the policy responses to political misconduct from a constructivist perspective, this article delves into one of the most shocking corruption scandals hitting the European Union (EU) institutions in decades: the money-for-influence scandal, also popularly known as Qatargate. The article shows which emotions the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) expressed in the wake of the scandal and how the discursive articulation of these emotions shaped their policy responses regarding transparency and accountability. This article combines the analysis of 28 EP plenary debates with interviews with six MEPs and high-level EU officials.</p>","PeriodicalId":52190,"journal":{"name":"European Policy Analysis","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/epa2.70001","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147315560","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The relevance of policy process theories in Europe","authors":"Christopher M. Weible","doi":"10.1002/epa2.70002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/epa2.70002","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;About a quarter century ago, Paul Sabatier brought together what he considered the most promising and useful theoretical approaches to studying policy processes in the inaugural edition of the &lt;i&gt;Theories of the Policy Process&lt;/i&gt; (Sabatier, &lt;span&gt;1999&lt;/span&gt;). This seminal work featured contributions exclusively from U.S.-based scholars and reflected the U.S. political setting—characterized by majoritarianism, pluralism, federalism, and a strong emphasis on individualism. A year later, the &lt;i&gt;European Journal of Public Policy&lt;/i&gt; published a symposium critically examining the relevance of these policy process theories in the European context (Dudley et al., &lt;span&gt;2000&lt;/span&gt;). The symposium questioned the volume's content, its scientific orientations, and the suitability of its theories for understanding the distinctive context of European countries and the European Union.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Fast-forward to today, the fifth edition of the &lt;i&gt;Theories of the Policy Process&lt;/i&gt; has been published (Weible, &lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;). While the roster of theories has evolved—with some added and others removed—the foundations of the collection remain rooted in U.S. policy processes. That said, the scope and perspectives have broadened significantly. All but two chapters now feature European co-authors, and the text engages questions of the growing applicability of the theories across diverse policy domains and governing settings, from authoritarian regimes to democracies (e.g., Tosun &amp; Workman, &lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This special in &lt;i&gt;European Policy Analysis&lt;/i&gt; revisits the themes in Dudley et al. (&lt;span&gt;2000&lt;/span&gt;) about the relevance of policy process theories for studies in European countries and the European Union. The contributing authors present a comprehensive exploration of policy process theories—past, present, and future—with a particular focus on European applications and their broader impacts. It begins with Claudio Radaelli, a coauthor of Dudley et al. (&lt;span&gt;2000&lt;/span&gt;), who reflects on the evolution of policy process theories over the decades, drawing from his career in the field. In contrast, Paul Cairney et al. (&lt;span&gt;2025&lt;/span&gt;) provide a contemporary snapshot that includes a survey of scholars recently applying these theories in Europe. Related to theoretical impacts, Evangelia Petridou et al. (&lt;span&gt;2025&lt;/span&gt;) delve into a cross-cutting concept—policy entrepreneurs—conducting a systematic review to highlight insights from European applications.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The subsequent contributions tackle the challenges and gaps in integrating context into policy process theories. Zohlnhöfer and Herweg (&lt;span&gt;2025&lt;/span&gt;) address three underexplored concepts in European applications—political parties, macro-level institutions, and Europeanization—calling for their greater inclusion. Similarly, Giliberto Capano (&lt;span&gt;2025&lt;/span&gt;) shifts the discussion to policy implementation and instruments, advocating for more robust research in these areas to support","PeriodicalId":52190,"journal":{"name":"European Policy Analysis","volume":"11 2","pages":"144-153"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/epa2.70002","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144135618","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Theories of the policy process: Chronicling the past and looking to the future","authors":"Claudio M. Radaelli","doi":"10.1002/epa2.70000","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/epa2.70000","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This personal reflection starts with the theme of how <i>Theories of the Policy Process or ToPP</i> (Sabatier, 1999) was received by European researchers and why this volume was particularly important for scholars working on the policy process of the European Union. Yet (this is the second theme) policy process research in Europe was also stimulated by other theoretical frameworks. A third theme is the status of theory in Europe today, balancing the reception of ToPP with the presence of frameworks like the référentiel, Europeanization, and policy learning. Finally, the fourth theme is about the future. The successful cumulation of theory-inspired policy process research does not suggest the need for another set of new theories. Rather, the key is to integrate ToPP with theory-oriented research on the policy stages that are less explored by existing theories (such as implementation and evaluation theories), public administration theory, and the normative perspective on governance.</p>","PeriodicalId":52190,"journal":{"name":"European Policy Analysis","volume":"11 2","pages":"154-167"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/epa2.70000","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144135726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Crisis management across Europe","authors":"Nils C. Bandelow,&nbsp;Johanna Hornung,&nbsp;Fritz Sager,&nbsp;Ilana Schröder","doi":"10.1002/epa2.1238","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/epa2.1238","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The first issue of European Policy Analysis (EPA) in 2025 demonstrates how the various political crises can act as a magnifying glass to further emphasize the explanatory power and relevance of policy process research. This applies both to the long-term economic and social challenges in Europe and to short-term and temporary crises, although they have to be treated very differently (Mavrot et al., <span>2024</span>). With regard to lessons learned and future resilience, it is important to systematically analyze the experiences of past crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Policy process research can make an important contribution here, particularly with regard to the role of science in the policy process (Capano et al., <span>2024</span>; Chen &amp; Zhang, <span>2024</span>; Hadorn et al., <span>2022</span>; Weible et al., <span>2020</span>). One of the important lessons learned was the special role of scientists not only in advising politicians but also in political communication. Here, Switzerland's small federal democracy, with its special direct democratic elements offers a special environment. Ksinsik (<span>2025</span>) combines concepts of science communication with the Narrative Policy Framework in a paper that has won the Best Paper Award of the ECPR Standing Group of Public Policy. The study looks at the special way Swiss scientists worked with policy discussions during the pandemic. It uses an index from NPF research to measure the devil-angel shift (Chang &amp; Koebele, <span>2020</span>). By analyzing Swiss newspaper articles, the research reveals that scientists employed narratives more frequently when providing problem advice compared to policy advice.</p><p>Equally focusing on the domestic impact of the COVID-19 crisis, Demler (<span>2025</span>) investigates changing party competition and political actors' positions in Germany as a result of the crisis. Just as the first article in this issue, she ties in with similar analyses of COVID-19 discourses across countries (Lemor &amp; Montpetit, <span>2024</span>; Persson et al., <span>2022</span>) and looks at the discourse in German newspapers to extract information on the positions of political actors and measures their centrality in the discourse network. The findings indicate that those actors that are central in the discourse are characterized by being part of the executive branch of the Länder and federal level and having candidate status. Hence, the polarization of discourse during the COVID-19 pandemic was less an issue of government versus opposition but between legislative and executive branch, whereby crisis communication apparently was also actively used for personal profile-building.</p><p>In the third contribution to this issue, Cantó et al. (<span>2025</span>) examine how and why macroeconomic factors such as economic development moderate the relationship between European Structural and Investment Funds and EU Support. The empirical basis of this study consists of Eu","PeriodicalId":52190,"journal":{"name":"European Policy Analysis","volume":"11 1","pages":"6-9"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/epa2.1238","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143431293","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Differentiated policy implementation in food safety and animal welfare policymaking","authors":"Giulia Bazzan,&nbsp;Colette S. Vogeler","doi":"10.1002/epa2.1239","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/epa2.1239","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Agri-food policies are in the midst of far-reaching transitions, including the transformation towards sustainable production and food consumption. The European Green Deal and Farm to Fork Strategy prioritize food safety and animal welfare issues, aiming to transform food systems towards more sustainability. Despite existing EU legislation, little is known about how EU agri-food policies are implemented across member states. Our analysis addresses this gap by examining the conditions that shape how EU requirements are implemented in 16 EU member states in two policy areas: food safety and farm animal welfare. Through our qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), we identify distinct pathways to differentiated implementation in both sectors, with a shared emphasis on political engagement, green party influence, and public advocacy, while also highlighting domain-specific governance dynamics. Understanding variations in the implementation of EU demands among member states is crucial to identify gaps, assess governance effectiveness, and promote harmonization within the EU.</p>","PeriodicalId":52190,"journal":{"name":"European Policy Analysis","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/epa2.1239","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146256313","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Policy process theories in Europe: A survey of who uses them, where, and why","authors":"Paul Cairney,&nbsp;Allegra H. Fullerton,&nbsp;Emily St. Denny,&nbsp;Christopher M. Weible","doi":"10.1002/epa2.1237","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/epa2.1237","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Many US policy process theories have been applied as much in Europe as in the US. We assess this journey in three ways. First, we use published reviews of the field to identify the high quantity of applications and their concentration in Western European liberal democracies. Second, we identify the absence of a typical European country experience and our expectation of finding variability across European countries when applying US theories. Third, we survey policy scholars in Europe on how and why they apply US theories to European contexts. Our survey establishes what theories they applied, why, and to what effect. It takes forward a new research agenda on the international application of mainstream policy theories.</p>","PeriodicalId":52190,"journal":{"name":"European Policy Analysis","volume":"11 2","pages":"168-190"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/epa2.1237","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144135654","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Translating policy harmonization into practice—The case of the EU Blue Card Directive","authors":"Almina Bešić,&nbsp;Andreas Diedrich,&nbsp;Dženeta Karabegović","doi":"10.1002/epa2.1234","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/epa2.1234","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study introduces a translation perspective to analyze the policy harmonization process, highlighting imitation, brokering, and editing in shaping policy dynamics at EU and national levels. The translation perspective emphasizes that while policy development is ongoing, the protracted process signals a shift in EU-wide coordination of skilled labor migration. We show how ongoing translation efforts have transformed the coordination of skilled labor migration across the EU, as labor migration policies have translated into each other, resulting in mutual transformation. The study provides insights into the complex processes of policy harmonization via the Blue Card, enhancing understanding of EU labor migration policy. The findings demonstrate the continuous nature of policy translation between multiple contexts. The article traces developments surrounding the EU Blue Card Directive, including a parallel scheme in Austria, offering insights into skilled migration policy dynamics beyond linear diffusion models.</p>","PeriodicalId":52190,"journal":{"name":"European Policy Analysis","volume":"11 1","pages":"94-113"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/epa2.1234","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143431722","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Policy implementation and policy instruments: The underdeveloped dimensions of the four “political” American policy process theories. A Western European perspective","authors":"Giliberto Capano","doi":"10.1002/epa2.1235","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/epa2.1235","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The fifth edition of “Theories of the Policy Process” represents a further step in consolidating these theories. However, four of them—Advocacy Coalition Framework, Multiple Streams Framework, Narrative Policy Framework, and Punctuated Equilibrium Theory—exhibit a few limitations in light of the characteristics of implementation and policy instruments due to their founding principles, the central role of pluralism and the will to abandon the original normativism of the policy sciences. Thus, these four theories seem to be framed to capture the politics of policy-making in a dynamic way rather than to understand how policies are able to deliver results to society. This affects the relevance and applicability of these theories from a Western European perspective but probably also from other cultural and geopolitical perspectives. After a discussion of these limitations, the paper outlines a number of suggestions for overcoming them.</p>","PeriodicalId":52190,"journal":{"name":"European Policy Analysis","volume":"11 2","pages":"230-253"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/epa2.1235","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144135728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Don't you forget about me! Concepts missing from policy process frameworks when applied to Europe","authors":"Reimut Zohlnhöfer,&nbsp;Nicole Herweg","doi":"10.1002/epa2.1236","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/epa2.1236","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Most policy process frameworks were developed in the US but are also applied to (Western) Europe. However, policy processes, the relevant actors, and the institutional setting differ substantially. Hence, the question arises if certain concepts that are important in the European context are missing from the frameworks and if the frameworks have been adapted to take these concepts into account. We discuss the three frameworks most widely applied to Europe, the Advocacy Coalition Framework, the Multiple Streams Framework, and the Punctuated Equilibrium Theory, and focus on three concepts that seem particularly relevant in shaping European policy processes, namely political parties, macro-level institutions, and Europeanization. It turns out that all three frameworks have something to say about all three concepts, although some voids remain. Nonetheless, the adaptations that have been suggested make all three frameworks applicable to European countries and promise substantial explanatory capacity also in these contexts.</p>","PeriodicalId":52190,"journal":{"name":"European Policy Analysis","volume":"11 2","pages":"207-229"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/epa2.1236","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144135651","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Same money, different impact? The curving effect of European Structural and Investment Funds on EU support in Spain (1990–2019)","authors":"Joel Cantó,&nbsp;Javier Baraibar,&nbsp;Javier Arregui","doi":"10.1002/epa2.1232","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/epa2.1232","url":null,"abstract":"<p>European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) engender European Union (EU) support in generating economic growth, but their effect is conditional on individual European identity and educational background. This study investigates whether the positive impact of ESIF spending on EU attitudes also depends on the alignment of funding with the economic needs of recipient regions. We examine this issue with the Spanish case (1990–2019), employing a unique combined data set of Eurobarometer waves and regional NUTS-2 economic indicators. Our findings indicate that EU funds manage to decrease Euroscepticism only in laggard regions, which receive the lion's share of funds and allocate them to public goods easily perceived and communicated to the local population. Conversely, the effect of ESIF on transforming attitudes is absent in middle and high-income regions. The findings suggest a more complicated relationship between ESIF and EU support, which necessitates taking both individual and contextual factors into account.</p>","PeriodicalId":52190,"journal":{"name":"European Policy Analysis","volume":"11 1","pages":"54-74"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/epa2.1232","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143431546","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}