Policy Dynamics in the European Union

Various “siloes” of European Union (EU), multi-level governance, and federalism research have proposed diverse frameworks to examine the reasons why convergence versus variation exists in domestic policy outputs across member-states of the EU. This book presents a unifying perspective to synthesize and compare these frameworks, outline differences and commonalities in causal processes, and the scope conditions under which they operate. Distinguishing between policy domains where EU institutions dominate policymaking, those where member states dominate, and those where their interaction is critical, we develop a non-exhaustive, actor-centered typology of policy dynamics—durable constellations of political actors and causal mechanisms that have distinctive policy consequences over time—in the “EU policymaking space”. We outline facilitating and limiting conditions that make it more or less likely that specific policy dynamics will emerge or decline. We argue that sector-specific policy dynamics will only have an impact if resourceful, boundedly-rational actors (governments, interest groups, NGOs), who have incentives, capacity and leverage, are able to employ one or more of those policy dynamics as a vehicle for building coalitions to achieve their political, policy and institutional objectives. The policy dynamics framework offers a tool to structure and navigate the vast literature on policy mechanisms in the EU and determine which mechanisms are most likely to occur, facilitating comparative, cumulative, and causal process-oriented research and teaching.