The Role of Policy Attributes and Governments’ Interests in Agenda-Setting and Policy Change: The Case of the Development of Integrated Social Security Provision in Western Europe

To which extent can the particular attributes of policy ideas influence their rise on the political agenda of governments and their subsequent adoption? Not all issues are equal in attracting the attention of governments. Some issues, like those directly impacting on the well-being of the population or those exacerbated by external shocks, are more critical to governments than others. Yet, it is not rare to see governments devoting much attention and energy to champion issues of low salience. Precisely, this paper seeks to shed light on the conditions under which some a priori low salient policy ideas like administrative reorganisations nevertheless get adopted by governments. Building on Kingdon’s multiple stream model and the literature on political parties’ motivations (Weaver 1986, Müller and Strøm 1999), this paper argues that the multidimensional character of administrative reforms, and more particularly their propensity to be coupled with governments’ policy preferences, organisational (changes in the distribution of responsibilities between the state and other actors) and political objectives play a key role in their agenda setting and adoption. Empirically, this argument is demonstrated through the analysis of the rise and adoption of a specific type of administrative reform, namely reforms towards an integrated provision of unemployment benefits and Public Employment Services, in three European countries with different political and economic backgrounds (Denmark, Germany and the UK). The comparison indicate that whereas governments’ turnovers and the opportunity to implement broader policy programme are two important conditions for such reforms to attract governments’ attention, effective decision to act is facilitated when governments see an opportunity to use them to achieve collateral objectives in the organisational and political spheres.