Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Perpetrators, Presidents, and Profiteers: Teaching Genocide Prevention and Response through Classroom Simulation File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/330 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i4.330 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 4 Pages: 72-83 Author-Name: Waitman Wade Beorn Author-Workplace-Name: Virginia Holocaust Museum, USA Abstract: Perhaps the most difficult aspect of genocide studies to impart to students is that of genocide prevention and response. However, without a critical understanding of these issues, our future leaders and policy makers may be at a disadvantage when faced with very real genocides. This article explores the benefits and challenges of teaching this topic through classroom simulation at the university level by discussing in-depth one simulation created and used by the author. Keywords: education; genocide; prevention; response; R2P Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:4:p:72-83 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Is R2P a Fully-Fledged International Norm? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/319 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i4.319 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 4 Pages: 68-71 Author-Name: Jason Ralph Author-Workplace-Name: POLIS, University of Leeds, UK, and POLSIS, University of Queensland, Australia Author-Name: James Souter Author-Workplace-Name: POLIS, University of Leeds, UK Abstract: This commentary examines whether R2P is a fully-fledged norm. As a normative aspiration R2P is almost universally accepted. However as a standard of behaviour that states implement as a matter of course R2P is far from fully-fledged. By examining state responses to refugee crises in Syria it is argued that powerful states are failing in their special responsibility to protect. Keywords: asylum; atrocity; R2P; special responsibility to protect; Syria Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:4:p:68-71 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: R2P’s “Ulterior Motive Exemption” and the Failure to Protect in Libya File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/309 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i4.309 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 4 Pages: 56-67 Author-Name: Jeffrey Bachman Author-Workplace-Name: School of International Service, American University, Washington, USA Abstract: Mass atrocity prevention has been controversial, both when members of the international community have taken action as well as when they have failed to do so. In 1999, then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan challenged the international community to reconcile the need to respect state sovereignty with the need to protect populations from egregious human rights violations. R2P’s emergence offered an opportunity to move past the discourse and practice associated with its predecessor—“humanitarian intervention.” However, while R2P has succeeded in changing the discourse, it has failed to make a change in practice. A source of this failure is R2P’s “ulterior motive exemption.” Using the R2P intervention in Libya as a case study, this article concludes that because ulterior motives existed: (1) NATO’s primary intent of civilian protection quickly evolved into the intent to overthrow Muammar Qaddafi; (2) in exceeding its mandate, NATO committed an act of aggression; (3) NATO continued to militarily support the rebels while they were committing war crimes and severe human rights violations; (4) NATO’s actions resulted in civilian casualties, which NATO has refused to investigate; and (5) NATO abdicated its responsibility to protect Libyans from the human suffering that continued subsequent to Qaddafi’s execution. Keywords: humanitarian intervention; Libya; NATO; R2P Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:4:p:56-67 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Is a European Practice of Mass Atrocity Prevention Emerging? The European Union, Responsibility to Protect and the 2011 Libya Crisis File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/315 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i4.315 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 4 Pages: 44-55 Author-Name: Chiara De Franco Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science and Public Management, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark Author-Name: Annemarie Peen Rodt Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Strategy, Royal Danish Defence College, Denmark Abstract: Observers have classified the European Union (EU) as reluctant in its implementation of the “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) (Task Force on the EU Prevention of Mass Atrocities, 2013). This contribution revisits that argument by employing a more nuanced interpretation of norm implementation than the binary conceptualisation typically applied. By appraising EU reactions to the 2011 Libyan crisis, we investigate whether a “European practice of mass atrocity prevention” is emerging and if so how this relates—or not—to R2P. We do this by investigating EU practices seeking to protect people from genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity—paying particular attention to the three pillars and four policy areas included in the R2P framework (ICISS, 2001). Our review of EU responses to Libya seeks to unveil whether and if so how EU practice related to mass atrocity prevention in that country rejected, adopted or indeed adapted R2P. The enquiry appraises both how R2P mattered to the EU response and how the Libya crisis affected the Union’s approach to mass atrocity prevention and within it R2P. In this way, the study asks how norms can change practice, but also how practice can change norms. As such, our focus is on the inter-relationship between principles and practices of protection. Keywords: European Union (EU); Libya; mass atrocity prevention; norm implementation; practice turn; Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:4:p:44-55 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: A Core National Security Interest: Framing Atrocities Prevention File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/322 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i4.322 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 4 Pages: 26-43 Author-Name: Matthew Levinger Author-Workplace-Name: Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, USA Abstract: This essay analyzes President Barack Obama’s communication strategies in his speeches and presidential statements concerning threats of mass atrocities in Libya, Syria, and Iraq from 2011 through 2015. It examines how he has used three rhetorical “frames” to explain events in these countries and to advocate specific U.S. policy responses: the “legalistic” (or “liberal internationalist”), the “moralistic,” and the “security” frame. Obama utilized primarily the legalistic frame to justify U.S. military intervention in Libya in 2011, and he relied mainly on the security frame (focusing on terrorist threats against U.S. nationals) to justify the deployment of U.S. military forces against ISIL in Iraq and Syria in 2014−2015. Obama’s rhetorical framing of the violence perpetrated by the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad since 2011 has been less consistent. Hardly ever in these speeches did Obama suggest that mass atrocities per se constituted a threat to U.S. national security—despite the declaration in Obama’s 2011 Presidential Study Directive on Mass Atrocities that “preventing mass atrocities and genocide is a core national security interest” of the United States. Utilizing an approach to linguistic analysis developed by Roman Jakobson, the paper shows how Obama has employed rhetorical devices that emphasize the boundaries between the “in-group” of the American national community and the “out-groups” in other countries who are threatened by mass atrocities. Because members of an in-group are typically depicted as warranting greater concern than members of out-groups, Obama’s assignment of victimized communities to out-group status has effectively justified inaction by the U.S. government in the face of genocidal violence. Keywords: Barack Obama; communication; genocide prevention; mass atrocities; Libya; Syria; Islamic State; speech; US President Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:4:p:26-43 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Genocide Prevention and Western National Security: The Limitations of Making R2P All About Us File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/317 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i4.317 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 4 Pages: 12-25 Author-Name: Maureen S. Hiebert Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science and Centre for Military Security and Strategic Studies, University of Calgary, Canada Abstract: The case for turning R2P and genocide prevention from principle to practice usually rests on the invocation of moral norms and duties to others. Calls have been made by some analysts to abandon this strategy and “sell” genocide prevention to government by framing it as a matter of our own national interest including our security. Governments’ failure to prevent atrocities abroad, it is argued, imperils western societies at home. If we look at how the genocide prevention-as-national security argument has been made we can see, however, that this position is not entirely convincing. I review two policy reports that make the case for genocide prevention based in part on national security considerations: Preventing Genocide: A Blue Print for U.S. Policymakers (Albright-Cohen Report); and the Will to Intervene Project. I show that both reports are problematic for two reasons: the “widened” traditional security argument advocated by the authors is not fully substantiated by the evidence provided in the reports; and alternate conceptions of security that would seem to support the linking of genocide prevention to western security—securitization and risk and uncertain—do not provide a solid logical foundation for operationalizing R2P. I conclude by considering whether we might appeal instead to another form of self interest, “reputational stakes”, tied to western states’ construction of their own identity as responsible members of the international community. Keywords: genocide; national security; prevention; R2P Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:4:p:12-25 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Accomplice to Mass Atrocities: The International Community and Indonesia’s Invasion of East Timor File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/272 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i4.272 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 4 Pages: 1-11 Author-Name: Clinton Fernandes Author-Workplace-Name: School of Humanities and Social Sciences, UNSW Canberra, Australia Abstract: This paper examines early warning of, and political responses to, mass atrocities in East Timor in the late 1970s. Using newly-declassified intelligence and diplomatic records, it describes Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor in 1975 and its three year military campaign to crush the East Timorese resistance. It shows that the campaign resulted in mass deaths due to famine and disease, and considers the United Nations’ response to the unfolding crisis. It evaluates the level of international awareness of the humanitarian crisis in East Timor by inspecting contemporaneous eyewitness reports by foreign diplomats from states with a keen interest in Indonesia: Australia, the United States, New Zealand and Canada. In contrast to a popular, highly lauded view, the paper shows that these states did not “look away”; rather, they had early warning and ongoing knowledge of the catastrophe but provided military and diplomatic assistance to Indonesia. The paper contrasts a counter-productive effort by civil society activists with a very effective one, and thus demonstrates the role that robust scholarship can play in terminating atrocities. Keywords: atrocities; Australia; crimes against humanity; East Timor; famine; genocide; Indonesia; responsibility to protect; R2P; United Nations; war crimes Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:4:p:1-11 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Analyzing the EU Refugee Crisis: Humanity, Heritage and Responsibility to Protect File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/507 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i2.507 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 2 Pages: 129-134 Author-Name: Amelia Hadfield Author-Workplace-Name: School of Psychology, Politics and Sociology, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK Author-Name: Andrej Zwitter Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Law, University of Groningen, The Netherlands Abstract: 2015 has shaken the EU to its core. Hard upon the heels of geopolitical upheavals in Ukraine, as well as internal battles to define both Eurozone and energy governance, the refugee crisis has prompted a sober reckoning of the EU’s competence and its humanity. With an increasing number of articles and Special Issues in Politics and Governance focusing upon key aspects of the EU as both a political actor, and a source of governance, our autumn 2015 editorial looks briefly at the significance of the refugee crisis in the context of the EU’s current response and future options. Keywords: crisis; Europe; refugee; responsibility to protect Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:2:p:129-134 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Moving Upstream and Going Local: The Responsibility to Protect Ten Years Later File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/311 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i3.311 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 3 Pages: 98-100 Author-Name: Bridget Moix Author-Workplace-Name: School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, USA Abstract: Ten years ago the international community pledged to protect civilians from genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and crimes against humanity by endorsing the responsibility to protect (R2P) doctrine. Yet today, horrific violence against civilians continues in places like Syria, Iraq, and South Sudan. This article examines some of the progress and gaps in the international community’s efforts to better protect civilians against mass violence over the past decade. It proposes two emerging directions for advancing the R2P agenda in the coming years: 1) greater focus on upstream prevention, and 2) increased support for locally-led peacebuilding and prevention actors and capacities. Keywords: atrocity prevention; civilian protection; genocide; genocide prevention; mass atrocities; responsibility to protect; R2P Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:3:p:98-100 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Viability of the “Responsibility to Prevent” File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/314 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i3.314 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 3 Pages: 85-97 Author-Name: Aidan Hehir Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Westminster, UK Abstract: The efficacy of the Responsibility to Prevent suffers from two key problems; causal indeterminacy, and a dependence on the political will of states, particularly the permanent five members of the Security Council. The vast array of factors which can be cited as potentially contributing to the outbreak of conflict and atrocity crimes mitigates against the determination of definite “conflict triggers”. This does not mean prevention is impossible but does limit the efficacy of “early warning systems”. The dynamics of the “four crimes” within R2P’s purview further limits the efficacy of prevention as the decision to engage in mass atrocities is taken in response to a perceived existential crisis. This significantly limits the scope for leveraging the “internal” aspect of R2P as the decision to commit these acts is invariably born from a belief that no other option is available to the potential aggressors. Thus the specifics of atrocity crime prevention places great emphasis on the operationalisation of the external dimension of R2P, namely the role of the international community. So long as the response of the “international community” is predicated on the political will of states, however, the efficacy of prevention in these areas will be limited, as the “international” response is prey to narrowly defined national interests. Keywords: early warning; political will; responsibility to prevent; Security Council Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:3:p:85-97 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Preventing Mass Atrocities: Ideological Strategies and Interventions File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/320 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i3.320 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 3 Pages: 67-84 Author-Name: Jonathan Leader Maynard Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, UK Abstract: Both scholars and international actors frequently stress the important role played by anti-civilian ideologies in escalating risks of mass atrocities against civilians. Yet strategies to combat and counter anti-civilian ideologies remain an uncertain and understudied component of atrocity prevention, and scepticism about their efficacy is to be expected. This paper provides a preliminary framework for thinking about strategies and interventions designed to counter the ideological causes of mass atrocities. First, I briefly clarify what existing research seems to suggest the role of ideology in mass atrocities is, and is not. I caution against cruder or overly strong theses about the role ideology plays, but clarify that whilst ideology’s actual causal impact is varying and complex, it is also significant. Second, I clarify what ideological interventions and strategies might be reasonably expected to do, and comparatively assess them against more dominant existing prevention tools to show that their preventive potential is sufficiently high to warrant usage. Finally, I provide guidelines on how the effort to formulate ideological strategies and interventions for preventing mass atrocities should best proceed. Keywords: discourse; genocide; hate speech; human rights; ideology; mass atrocity; prevention Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:3:p:67-84 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Stopping Mass Atrocities: Targeting the Dictator File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/289 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i3.289 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 3 Pages: 53-66 Author-Name: Maartje Weerdesteijn Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Criminal Law, Tilburg University, The Netherlands Abstract: The international community has determined it carries the responsibility to protect civilians from atrocity crimes if a state is unable or unwilling to do so. These crimes are often perpetrated in authoritarian regimes where they are legitimized through an exclusionary ideology. A comparative case study of Pol Pot and Milosevic indicates that whether the leader truly believes in the ideology he puts forward or merely uses it instrumentally to manipulate the population, is an important variable, which affects the manner in which third parties can respond effectively to these crimes. While Pol Pot was motivated by his ideological zeal, Milosevic used ideology to create a climate in which mass atrocities could be perpetrated in order to garner further power and prestige. In Max Weber’s terminology, Milosevic was guided by instrumental rationality while Pol Pot acted on the basis of value rationality. This case study compares two crucial moments—Vietnam’s invasion of Cambodia and NATO’s bombing of Serbia when the crisis in Kosovo escalated—to analyze the responsiveness of the two leaders. It is argued that ideological leaders are less responsive than non-ideological leaders to foreign policy measures targeted to stop or mitigate the occurrence of atrocities. Keywords: dictator; foreign policy; mass atrocity; Pol Pot; rationality; Slobodan Milosevic Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:3:p:53-66 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Unearthing Truth: Forensic Anthropology, Translocal Memory, and “Provention” in Guatemala File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/451 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i3.451 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 3 Pages: 42-52 Author-Name: Colette G. Mazzucelli Author-Workplace-Name: Graduate School of Arts and Science, New York University, USA Author-Name: Dylan Heyden Author-Workplace-Name: Graduate School of Arts and Science, New York University, USA Abstract: This article deliberately examines the search for truth after decades of conflict in Guatemala. Excavations of mass gravesites and the painstaking exhumation processes carried out by professional forensic anthropology teams continue to allow families to locate lost relatives—reclaiming truth and supporting calls for justice. For Guatemalans, the search for truth now transcends national borders, especially among migrant communities in the United States. The family remains the central unit through which the work of Guatemalan forensic anthropologists is undertaken. In an effort to engender deeper insights about these exhumation processes from a social science perspective, this analysis promotes the use of specific “tools” in Guatemalan forensic anthropology investigations. The first is an exhumations concept map, which yields important questions meant to stimulate meaningful analysis. The second, Story Maps, is a technology application with the potential to mediate digital access to the emerging Guatemalan translocal space. The research in this analysis suggests that these “tools” strengthen Burton’s notion of “provention” in Guatemala. Keywords: forensic anthropology; Guatemala; provention; Story Maps; transitional justice Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:3:p:42-52 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Understanding Mass Atrocity Prevention during Periods of Democratic Transition File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/318 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i3.318 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 3 Pages: 27-41 Author-Name: Stephen McLoughlin  Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for Governance and Public Policy, Griffith University, Australia Abstract: The purpose of this article is to provide a better understanding of why some countries experience mass atrocities during periods of democratic transition, while others do not. Scholars have long regarded democracy as an important source of stability and protection from mass atrocities such as genocide, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. But democratic transition itself is fraught with the heightened risk of violent conflict and even mass atrocities. Indeed, a number of studies have identified regimes in transition as containing the highest risk of political instability and mass atrocities. What is overlooked is the question of how and why some regimes undergo such transitions without experiencing mass atrocities, despite the presence of a number of salient risk factors, including state-based discrimination, inter-group tension and horizontal inequality. Utilizing a new analytical framework, this article investigates this lacuna by conducting a comparative analysis of two countries—one that experienced atrocities (Burundi) during transition, and one that did not (Guyana). How countries avoid such violence during transition has the potential to yield insights for the mitigation of risk associated with mass atrocity crimes. Keywords: Burundi; democratic transition; Guyana; mass atrocities; prevention; risk Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:3:p:27-41 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Evaluating the United Nation’s Agenda for Atrocity Prevention: Prospects for the International Regulation of Internal Security File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/293 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i3.293 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 3 Pages: 16-26 Author-Name: Cecilia Jacob Author-Workplace-Name: Department of International Relations, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, The Australian National University, Australia Abstract: In recent years the UN Secretary-General has promoted mass atrocity prevention as the priority agenda for the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) at the UN, redirecting debates on R2P away from military interventionism towards improved state capacity to prevent atrocity crimes and protect populations. This focus has been illustrated in the UNSG’s annual reports on R2P since 2009, and the 2014 “Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes”, that emphasise state institutional capacity and the identification of atrocity-risk indicators. Through a case-study of Pakistan, this article problematizes the relationship between internal security and the UN agenda on atrocity prevention to evaluate the viability of promoting atrocity prevention as currently conceived by the Office of the UNSG in high-risk contexts. It argues that an atrocity prevention agenda informed by a responsive regulation framework would be more effective in taking into account the relational dynamics of atrocity crimes. This includes accounting for the interaction between the micro-dynamics of political violence with macro-dynamics created by lengthy historical conflicts and strategic repertoires. Keywords: mass atrocity prevention; Pakistan; responsibility to protect; responsive regulation; social contexts of violence Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:3:p:16-26 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Triggers of Mass Atrocities File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/375 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i3.375 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 3 Pages: 5-15 Author-Name: Scott Straus Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA Abstract: The concept of “triggers” enjoys wide usage in the atrocity prevention policymaking community. However, the concept has received limited academic analysis. This paper reviews the concept critically, develops a definition, and subjects the concept to empirical analysis. The paper offers a mild endorsement of the concept of triggers of atrocity. The paper identifies four main categories of triggering event but cautions that triggers cannot be separated from context or decision-makers. Keywords: atrocity; mass atrocity; genocide; prevention; triggers Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:3:p:5-15 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Mass Atrocity Prevention: Forever Elusive or Potentially Achievable? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/488 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i3.488 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 3 Pages: 1-4 Author-Name: Karen E. Smith Author-Workplace-Name: Department of International Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK Abstract: This editorial introduces the special issue, and considers what the articles in it tell us about the prospects of mass atrocity prevention. Keywords: mass atrocities; mass atrocity prevention; responsibility to protect Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:3:p:1-4 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: EU “Mobility” Partnerships: An Initial Assessment of Implementation Dynamics File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/398 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i2.398 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 2 Pages: 117-128 Author-Name: Natasja Reslow Author-Workplace-Name: Department of International and European Law, Maastricht University, The Netherlands Abstract: Cooperation with non-EU countries is a central migration policy priority for the EU, and since 2008 eight Mobility Partnerships have been signed. Given the importance attached to this policy area, it is essential that policy-makers understand how EU external migration policy works in practice. However, the literature on the implementation of EU external migration policy is very limited. This article addresses this deficit, by conducting a conceptual assessment of implementation dynamics in the Mobility Partnerships. At this stage in the implementation process, it is not yet possible to assess whether the Mobility Partnerships have contributed to mobility, which is their stated aim. Instead, the literature on implementation is applied in a “backward” fashion, starting with the implementation dynamics at play. The article concludes that standard analytical frameworks for assessing implementation processes will need to be adapted for “new” policy tools featuring elements of flexibility or voluntary participation, in order to accurately capture implementation processes. Future research should adopt a critical, human rights-centred approach to the issue of implementation of EU external migration policy. Keywords: European Union; implementation; migration policy; mobility partnerships Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:2:p:117-128 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Steering or Networking: The Impact of Europe 2020 on Regional Governance Structures File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/404 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i2.404 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 2 Pages: 100-116 Author-Name: Frederic Maes Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Sociology, University of Antwerp, Belgium, and Policy Research Centre on Governmental Organization - Decisive Governance, Belgium Author-Name: Peter Bursens Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Sociology, University of Antwerp, Belgium Abstract: This article probes into how regions organize themselves to deal effectively with the Europe 2020 reform program. More specifically, it maps governance structures of regional policy-making and implementation of Europe 2020 and explains variation in these structures between policy domains and policy stages. The empirical focus is Flanders as this Belgian region possesses substantial legislative and executive autonomy and is therefore highly affected by the Europe 2020 program. The article distinguishes between policy-making (upload) and implementation stages (download) in education, energy and poverty policies. It is hypothesized that the varying impact of Europe 2020 can be attributed to the varying adaptational pressure of EU programs and a set of domestic intervening factors. Findings indicate variation between policy domains and policy stages on a continuum from lead-organization governed networks to shared participant governance networks. Overall, the extent to which Flanders is competent seems to be crucial. In addition, a substantial administrative capacity is needed to firmly steer and coordinate the governance structures that manage Europe 2020 policies. The level of integration further increases the extent to which Flemish Europe 2020 policies are steered. Keywords: Europeanization; Europe 2020; governance structures; social network analysis; subnational level Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:2:p:100-116 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Assessing the Relationship between Presidential Rhetorical Simplicity and Unilateral Action File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/303 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i2.303 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 2 Pages: 90-99 Author-Name: Christopher Olds Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Central Florida, USA Abstract: Research from Shogan (2007) and Lim (2008) on the executive branch proposes that the American presidency has adopted an anti-intellectual approach to leadership, such that there is a concerted rejection of thoughtful political discourse from the president. This has been reflected by what appears to be a relative decline in both the linguistic and substantive complexity of presidential rhetoric. Shogan’s (2007) work, while focused on examining whether Republicans are more apt to employ anti-intellectual leadership than Democrats, raises an additional topic worthy of empirical examination: the potential relationship between anti-intellectual leadership and unilateral action from the president. If anti-intellectual leadership is a defiant form of leadership that opts to publicly demonstrate the rejection of external expertise, the usage of anti-intellectual rhetoric from the president might be able to predict the usage of unilateral action. On the other hand, anti-intellectual rhetoric might be used as a straightforward and quick means to explain unilateral action, such that change in the level of unilateral action can predict the usage of simplistic rhetoric. Unfortunately, no one has yet to empirically test whether rhetorical simplicity predicts unilateral action, unilateral action predicts rhetorical simplicity, or there is a multi-directional relationship present. This project makes an initial attempt to remedy this gap in the literature. The project contrasts the monthly average simplicity level of the presidential weekly public address with the monthly number of executive orders emanating from the executive branch, using information spanning between February 1993 and May 2015. The initial findings from the vector autoregression and moving average representation analyses suggest that prior change in rhetorical simplicity predicts the usage of executive orders, and that an increase in rhetorical simplicity helps produce an increase in the number of executive orders offered by the president. Keywords: anti-intellectualism; Flesch readability; political communication; presidential rhetoric; rhetorical simplicity; unilateral action Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:2:p:90-99 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Intermediate Conditions of Democratic Accountability: A Response to Electoral Skepticism File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/238 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i2.238 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 2 Pages: 76-89 Author-Name: J. S. Maloy Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, USA Abstract: Attempts to respond to “democratic deficits” in modern constitutional republics must contend with the broad scholarly trend of electoral skepticism. While generally casting doubt on periodic competitive elections’ suitability as vehicles of accountability, electoral skepticism does not necessarily entail an absolute devaluation of elections. Some normative and empirical research responds to this trend by refocusing attention on values other than popular power, such as civil peace, which might be served by periodic competitive elections. Another response short of abandoning the value of popular power, however, is to draw out possibilities for institutional design from the restricted conditions under which previous study has found electoral accountability to be plausible or likely. This second task requires an empirically informed exercise in political theory. Pursuing it in a programmatic and policy-relevant way requires descending from the grand, systemic level of constitutional structures and electoral formulae to intermediate (or middle-range) institutional conditions of accountability, such as rules about parties, campaigns, and election administration. My analysis reinterprets principal-agent models to develop four general types of crucial condition for electoral accountability, and then ramifies this scheme by reference to recent empirical research. The result is a “top ten” list of specific institutional factors that could be theoretically decisive in helping or hindering electoral accountability. These ten conditions could guide future research designs and reform proposals alike. Keywords: accountability; democratic theory; democratic representation; electoral studies; institutional reform Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:2:p:76-89 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Who Is a Stream? Epistemic Communities, Instrument Constituencies and Advocacy Coalitions in Public Policy-Making File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/290 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i2.290 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 2 Pages: 65-75 Author-Name: Ishani Mukherjee Author-Workplace-Name: Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore Author-Name: Michael Howlett Author-Workplace-Name: Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore, and Department of Political Science, Simon Fraser University, Canada Abstract: John Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) was articulated in order to better understand how issues entered onto policy agendas, using the concept of policy actors interacting over the course of sequences of events in what he referred to as the “problem”, “policy” and “politics” “streams”. However, it is not a priori certain who the agents are in this process and how they interact with each other. As was common at the time, in his study Kingdon used an undifferentiated concept of a “policy subsystem” to group together and capture the activities of various policy actors involved in this process. However, this article argues that the policy world Kingdon envisioned can be better visualized as one composed of distinct subsets of actors who engage in one specific type of interaction involved in the definition of policy problems: either the articulation of problems, the development of solutions, or their enactment. Rather than involve all subsystem actors, this article argues that three separate sets of actors are involved in these tasks: epistemic communities are engaged in discourses about policy problems; instrument constituencies define policy alternatives and instruments; and advocacy coalitions compete to have their choice of policy alternatives adopted. Using this lens, the article focuses on actor interactions involved both in the agenda-setting activities Kingdon examined as well as in the policy formulation activities following the agenda setting stage upon which Kingdon originally worked. This activity involves the definition of policy goals (both broad and specific), the creation of the means and mechanisms to realize these goals, and the set of bureaucratic, partisan, electoral and other political struggles involved in their acceptance and transformation into action. Like agenda-setting, these activities can best be modeled using a differentiated subsystem approach. Keywords: advocacy coalition framework; epistemic communities; multiple streams framework; policy formulation; policy subsystems Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:2:p:65-75 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Riding the Populist Web: Contextualizing the Five Star Movement (M5S) in Italy File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/246 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i2.246 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 2 Pages: 54-64 Author-Name: Liza Lanzone Author-Workplace-Name: Laboratoire ERMES, University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, France Author-Name: Dwayne Woods Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Purdue University, USA Abstract: This article focuses on three mechanisms to explain the rise of populist movements across Europe. They are politicization of resentment, exploitation of social cleavages, and polarization of resentment and feelings of non-representation. We conceptualize populism as a strategic power game aiming to transform potential majorities into real ones by creating or reframing social cleavages. Our theoretical model is used to explain the rise of the Five Star Movement (M5S). Beppe Grillo’s M5S gained notoriety on the national political scene in Italy just before the 2013 elections and succeeded in get-ting nearly 25 percent of the overall vote. Moreover, it was the only political force that was able to attract votes across the different regions in Italy, making it the country’s only truly national party. Keywords: corruption; crisis of representation; Five Star Movement; political caste; populism Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:2:p:54-64 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: In Defence of War. By Nigel Biggar. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2013, 361 pp.; ISBN: 978-0-19-872583-1. File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/329 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i2.329 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 2 Pages: 51-53 Author-Name: Daniel Fiott Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for European Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium Abstract: Book Review: In Defence of War. By Nigel Biggar. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2013, 361 pp.; ISBN: 978-0-19-872583-1. Keywords: christian realism; intervention; just war; pacifism Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:2:p:51-53 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Drawing Lessons When Objectives Differ? Assessing Renewable Energy Policy Transfer from Germany to Morocco File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/192 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i2.192 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 2 Pages: 34-50 Author-Name: Karoline Steinbacher Author-Workplace-Name: Environmental Policy Research Centre (Forschungszentrum für Umweltpolitik), Freie Universität Berlin, Germany Abstract: Given the tremendous energy challenges Morocco faces, and its potential role as an exporter of green electricity to Europe, the country has been particularly targeted by Germany’s efforts to promote the uptake of renewable energies abroad. This paper explores whether ideas and policies in the field of renewable energy effectively traveled through transfer channels established between Germany and Morocco. In particular, the question of how Morocco’s policy objectives shaped the result of transfer processes is discussed, shedding light on a currently under-researched determinant for policy transfer. Drawing upon forty-five semi-structured interviews with Moroccan, German, and international stakeholders, as well as card-ranking exercises, the article provides first-hand insights into the dynamics and drivers of Morocco’s “energy transition”. Findings presented in the article show that differing policy objectives did not preclude the transfer of ideas between Germany and Morocco, but shaped its outcome with regard to policy instrument selection. While basic policy orientations in favour of renewable energies were facilitated by transferred knowledge, a perceived incompatibility between domestic policy objectives and the policy instruments used in the foreign model led to selective lesson-drawing from the German example. This finding underlines the importance for “senders” who wish to actively promote sustainable energy policies abroad to adapt outreach strategies to the policy objectives of potential followers. Keywords: diffusion; Energiewende; energy transition; Germany; Morocco; policy transfer; policy objectives; renewable energy Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:2:p:34-50 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Diffusion of Labour Standards: The Case of the US and Guatemala File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/182 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i2.182 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 2 Pages: 18-33 Author-Name: Gerda van Roozendaal Author-Workplace-Name: Department of International Relations and International Organization, Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, The Netherlands Abstract: The number of free trade agreements (FTAs) concluded by the United States of America (US) has grown vastly over the past two decades. While FTAs contribute to increased global competition and as such may also contribute to socially-undesirable practices in the area of working conditions and the environment, the proliferation in FTAs has paradoxically also augmented the potential for making free trade more fair as some of these agreements now include labour provisions. However, the question is whether these trade agreements have also actually diffused internationally recognised labour standards. This article studies the FTA the US signed in 2004 with a number of Central American countries and which, at a later stage, also included the Dominican Republic. This FTA is commonly referred to as CAFTA-DR and includes a chapter on labour standards. The article argues that the effects of the inclusion of labour standards in CAFTA-DR have been limited and therefore should be viewed as an unsuccessful attempt at policy transfer. This is illustrated by the case of Guatemala, a country known for its lack of respect for labour standards and which is currently the subject of a complaints procedure under the CAFTA-DR. It is maintained that this lack of effectiveness is the result of many factors. Among these is the weakness of the labour chapter of CAFTA-DR resulting from the fact that the chapter is the outcome of bargaining processes both within the US and between the US and Guatemala, where symbolic results were valued more highly than actual substance. Keywords: Guatemala; trade; labour standards; policy diffusion Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:2:p:18-33 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Just a Shadow? The Role of Radical Right Parties in the Politicization of Immigration, 1995–2009 File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/64 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i2.64 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 2 Pages: 1-17 Author-Name: Sarah Meyer Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Vienna, Austria Author-Name: Sieglinde Rosenberger Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Vienna, Austria Abstract: The paper explores the role of radical right parties in the politicization of immigration. In scholarly literature, radical right parties are viewed as the owners of the immigration issue and as drivers of its politicization. Against this prevalent view, we argue that the significance of radical right parties in politicizing immigration is overrated: (1) Radical right parties only play a subordinate role in the politicization of immigration, whereas the contribution of mainstream parties to raising issue salience has been underestimated; (2) the politicization of immigration is not related to radical right strength in the party system. The findings are based on media data from a comparative project on public claims-making on immigration in Western European countries (SOM, Support and Opposition to Migration). We discuss our findings in comparison to the relevant literature and suggest avenues for further research. Keywords: claims-making; immigration; issue politicization; radical right parties Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:2:p:1-17 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Variables and Challenges in Assessing EU Experts’ Performance File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/124 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i1.124 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 1 Pages: 166-178 Author-Name: Cathrine Holst Author-Workplace-Name: ARENA—Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, Norway Author-Name: Silje H. Tørnblad Author-Workplace-Name: ARENA—Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, Norway Abstract: Expert advice in political processes is supposed to improve decisions. If expertise fails in this function, a legitimacy problem occurs: granting political power to experts may be defensible, but only on the grounds that it contributes to enlightening political processes and facilitate problem-solving. The paper provides a theoretical exploration of four variables that are key when assessing the epistemic quality of expert deliberations: the degree to which these deliberations are 1) informed by technical expertise, 2) regulated by epistemically optimal respect and inclusion norms, 3) focused on politically relevant and applicable knowledge, and 4) approaching questions involving moral judgment and standard setting competently. Previous research on the European Commission’s use of expert advice has more or less overlooked the question of experts’ epistemic performance, and this paper discusses the possible reasons for this in light of well-known methodological challenges in studies of elite behaviour; access and bias problems. A discussion of the merits and limitations of different available data on the Commission experts shows that the biggest obstacle in the study of experts’ epistemic performance is rather the problem of epistemic asymmetry, i.e. of how researchers as non-experts can assess the epistemic quality of experts’ contributions and behaviour. The paper offers, finally, a set of strategies to get research going despite this problem. Keywords: epistemic quality; EU expertise; European Commission; expert deliberation; deliberative democracy; legitimacy Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:1:p:166-178 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Societal Inclusion in Expert Venues: Participation of Interest Groups and Business in the European Commission Expert Groups File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/130 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i1.130 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 1 Pages: 151-165 Author-Name: Åse Gornitzka Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science and Arena—Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, Norway Author-Name: Ulf Sverdrup Author-Workplace-Name: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Norway Abstract: The elaborate system of expert groups that the European Commission organises is a key feature of EU everyday governance and also a potential channel of societal involvement in EU policy making. This article examines the patterns of participation in the expert group system of a broad set of societal actors—NGOs, social partners/unions, consumer organisations, and business/enterprise. The analysis is based on a large-N study of Commission expert groups. Taking on an “executive politics” perspective, we identify main patterns of participation and analyse organisational factors that affect the inclusion of societal actors in the expert group system. We find that such actors are strongly involved in this system. Yet, there is a striking heterogeneity in the extent to which the Commission’s administrative units include societal groups as experts in the policy process. The logics that underpin the inclusion of business organisations are not identical to the logics of inclusion applied to social partners and NGOs. The Commission as the core supranational executive is thus selectively open for societal involvement in its expert groups system, and this bureaucratic openness is patterned, clustered, and conditioned by structural factors that affect how the Commission as a multi-organisation operates. Keywords: Executives; expertise; European Commission; interests groups; organisation; public administration Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:1:p:151-165 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Politics behind the Consultation of Expert Groups: An Instrument to Reduce Uncertainty or to Offset Salience? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/84 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i1.84 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 1 Pages: 139-150 Author-Name: Bart Van Ballaert Author-Workplace-Name: Institut de Sciences Politiques Louvain-Europe (ISPOLE), University of Louvain, Belgium Abstract: This paper answers the following question: Do the uncertainty and salience of issues determine whether the European Commission will use an expert group to assist with policy formulation? Using rationalist theory, three hypotheses test whether transversality, the importance of standard-setting and the salience of a policy proposal determine whether a Commission DG will ask an expert group to assist in preparing that same proposal. Data was retrieved from official docu-ments via EUR-Lex. A binary logistic regression analysis has been conducted on a sample of 260 proposals that were drafted by DG Climate Action, DG Communications Networks, Content & Technology, DG Environment and DG Internal Market and Services. All proposals were adopted between 2010 and 2013. The empirical analysis shows that expert group involvement in policy formulation is neither negligible nor ubiquitous in terms of frequency as expert groups as-sisted in preparing 33.5% of the proposals. DGs were significantly more likely to consult an expert group when the pro-posal under preparation was more transversal in nature and/or when that proposal treated standard-setting more pro-nouncedly. In contrast, the salience of a proposal was shown to be insignificantly related to the presence of an expert group during policy formulation. Keywords: bureaucratic politics; expert groups; European Commission; policy formulation; salience; uncertainty Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:1:p:139-150 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Implementation of the REACH Authorisation Procedure on Chemical Substances of Concern: What Kind of Legitimacy? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/85 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i1.85 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 1 Pages: 128-138 Author-Name: Christoph Klika Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University, The Netherlands Abstract: With the increasing “agencification” of policy making in the European Union (EU), normative questions regarding the legitimacy of EU agencies have become ever more important. This article analyses the role of expertise and legitimacy with regard to the European Chemicals Agency ECHA. Based on the REACH regulation, so-called Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs) are subject to authorisation. The authorisation procedure aims to ensure the good functioning of the internal market, while assuring that risks of SVHCs are properly controlled. Since ECHA has become operational in 2008, recurring decisions on SVHCs have been made. The question posed in this article is: to what extent can decision making in the REACH authorisation procedure be assessed as legitimate? By drawing on the notion of throughput legitimacy, this article argues that decision making processes in the authorisation procedure are characterized by insufficient legitimacy. Keywords: authorisation; ECHA; expertise; REACH; SVHCs; throughput legitimacy Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:1:p:128-138 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Explaining Differences in Scientific Expertise Use: The Politics of Pesticides File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/82 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i1.82 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 1 Pages: 114-127 Author-Name: Dovilė Rimkutė Author-Workplace-Name: Geschwister-Scholl-Institut of Political Science (GSI), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany Abstract: Despite the growing importance of EU regulatory agencies in European decision-making, academic literature is missing a systematic explanation of how regulatory agencies actually contend with their core tasks of providing scientific advice to EU institutions. The article contributes to the theoretical explanation of when and under what conditions different uses of scientific expertise prevail. In particular, it focuses on theoretical explanations leading to strategic substantiating use of expertise followed by an empirical analysis of single case research. Substantiating expertise use refers to those practices in which an organisation seeks to promote and justify its predetermined preferences, which are based on certain values, political or economic interests. Empirical findings are discussed in the light of the theoretical expectations derived by streamlining and combining the main arguments of classical organisational and institutional theories and recent academic research. Process-tracing techniques are applied to investigate the process by which an EU regulation restricting the use of neonicotinoid pesticides (European Commission, 2013) was developed. The empirical analysis combines a variety of data sources including official documents, press releases, scientific outputs, and semi-structured interviews with the academic and industry experts involved in the process. The study finds that the interaction between high external pressure and high internal capacity leads to the strategic substantiating use of expertise, in which scientific evidence is used to promote the inclinations of actors upon which the agency depends most. Keywords: bee health; EU Regulation; European Commission; European Food Safety Authority; neonicotinoid pesticides; risk assessment; scientific expertise Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:1:p:114-127 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Driven by Expertise and Insulation? The Autonomy of European Regulatory Agencies File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/75 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i1.75 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 1 Pages: 101-113 Author-Name: Christoph Ossege Author-Workplace-Name: SSM Policy & Coordination Unit, Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, Germany, and Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS), Bremen University, Germany Abstract: Expertise and autonomy are cornerstones to the effective operation and legitimacy of European Regulatory Agencies (ERAs). Yet, we know little about ERAs’ actual autonomy, nor about factors shaping it. This article studies ERAs’ actual autonomy from public and private actors, emphasising two crucial explanatory factors: expertise and rulemaking competences. The lack of insights on expertise is particularly striking, as expertise—the “raison d’être” and main resource of expert bodies—provides ERAs with a potentially powerful means to increase autonomy. Relying on a rational institutionalist framework within which ERAs enjoy substantive discretion to pursue their goals, the study empirically compares three powerful ERAs—the European Medicines Agency, the European Chemicals Agency, and the European Food Safety Authority. Based on the analysis of 39 semi-structured expert interviews, findings show that expertise is a crucial explanation for ERAs’ substantive autonomy from the Commission. Towards research intensive private stakeholders, the role of expertise becomes less pronounced. Instead, ERAs are more successful in protecting their autonomy by engaging in the risk-averse interpretation of the regulatory framework and by adapting rules over time to adapt their needs: they engage in “procedural insulation”. Political salience provides a scope condition for ERAs to use expert knowledge and rulemaking competences more strategically—potentially undermining scientific quality. Keywords: autonomy; delegation; EU agencies; EU governance; expert advice; expertise; insulation; regulation; rulemaking Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:1:p:101-113 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Limits of Epistemic Communities: EU Security Agencies File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/78 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i1.78 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 1 Pages: 90-100 Author-Name: Mai'a K. Davis Cross Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Northeastern University, USA, and ARENA—Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, Norway Abstract: This article examines the cases of the European Defence Agency (EDA) and EU Intelligence Analysis Centre (IntCen) to argue that although they are comprised of high-level security experts, they do not constitute epistemic communities. Research on other groups of security experts based in Brussels has shown that epistemic communities of diplomats, military experts, security researchers, and civilian crisis management experts, among others, have been able to influence the trajectory of security integration by virtue of their shared knowledge. Importantly, these security epistemic communities have been shown to significantly impact outcomes of EU security policy beyond what would be expected by looking only at member-states’ initial preferences. In exploring two examples of “non-cases” that are at the same time very similar to the other examples, the author seeks to shed light on why some expert groups do not form epistemic communities, and how this changes the nature of their influence. In so doing, the goal is to sharpen the parameters of what constitutes epistemic communities, and to add to our understanding of why they emerge. The argument advanced in this article is that institutional context and the nature of the profession matter as preconditions for epistemic community emergence. Keywords: epistemic communities; European Union; security Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:1:p:90-100 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Expertise and Power: Agencies Operating in Complex Environments File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/81 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i1.81 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 1 Pages: 73-89 Author-Name: Anthony R. Zito Author-Workplace-Name: School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University, UK Abstract: This contribution investigates the strategies that environmental agencies develop to enhance their policy autonomy, in order to fulfil their organisational missions for protecting the environment. This article asks whether there are particular strategic moves that an agency can make to augment this policy autonomy in the face of the principals. Critiquing principal agent theory, it investigates the evolution of three environmental agencies (the European Environment Agency, the England and Wales Environment Agency and the United States Environmental Protection Agency), focusing on the case study of climate change. The contribution examines how the agencies influence environmental policy on domestic, regional and global levels, with a special focus on the principals that constrain agency autonomy. A greater focus on different multi-level contexts, which the three agencies face, may create other possible dynamics and opportunities for agency strategies. Agencies can use particular knowledge, network and alliance building to strengthen their policy/political positions. Keywords: climate change; environment agency; European Union; governance; learning; principal agent Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:1:p:73-89 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Unexpected Negotiator at the Table: How the European Commission’s Expertise Informs Intergovernmental EU Policies File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/117 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i1.117 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 1 Pages: 61-72 Author-Name: Meng-Hsuan Chou Author-Workplace-Name: Public Policy and Global Affairs Programme, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Author-Name: Marianne Riddervold Author-Workplace-Name: ARENA—Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, Norway Abstract: How, if at all, does the Commission’s expertise inform intergovernmental decision-making within the EU? In this article, we aim to capture the relationship between the Commission’s expertise and its influence within intergovernmental policy-areas through a study of Commission influence in two least likely sectors: security and defence policies (military mission Atalanta and EU Maritime Security Strategy) and external migration (EU mobility partnerships with third countries). In these cases we observe that the Commission strongly informs policy developments even though it has only limited formal competences. To explore whether and, if so, how this influence is linked to its expertise, we develop and consider two hypotheses: The expert authority hypothesis and the expert arguments hypothesis. To identify possible additional channels of influence, we also consider the relevance of two alternative hypotheses: The strategic coalition hypothesis and the institutional circumvention hypothesis. We find that the Commission’s use of its expertise is indeed key to understanding its de facto influence within policy-areas where its formal competences remain limited. Our findings add to the existing literature by revealing how expertise matters. Specifically, our cases show that the Commission informs intergovernmental decision-making by successfully linking discussions to policy-areas where it holds expert authority. However, the Commission also informs EU policies by circumventing the formal lines of intergovernmental decision-making, and by cooperating with member states that share its preference for further integration. Keywords: argument-based learning; bargaining; EU; European Commission; expert knowledge; expertise; foreign policy; influence; institutional circumvention; institutionalism; intergovernmental policies Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:1:p:61-72 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Epistemic Dependence and the EU Seal Ban Debate File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/80 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i1.80 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 1 Pages: 49-60 Author-Name: Lars Christian Blichner Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen, Norway Abstract: On September 2009 the European Union (EU) adopted a regulation banning the import of seal products into the EU or placing seal products on the EU market. The European Parliament was the main driving force behind the regulation and the EU has been criticised by affected countries outside the EU for not basing this decision on the available expert knowledge. The questions asked are how, given epistemic dependence, non-experts may challenge an expert based policy proposal. Can non-experts hold experts accountable, and if so in what way? Three main tests and ten subtests of expert knowledge are proposed and these tests are then used to assess whether the European Parliament did in fact argue in a way consistent with available expert knowledge in amending the Commission proposal for a regulation. Keywords: accountability; democracy; epistemic dependence; European Parliament; expert knowledge; globalisation; seal ban Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:1:p:49-60 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Cynical or Deliberative? An Analysis of the European Commission’s Public Communication on Its Use of Expertise in Policy-Making File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/240 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i1.240 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 1 Pages: 37-48 Author-Name: Cathrine Holst Author-Workplace-Name: ARENA—Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, Norway Author-Name: John R. Moodie Author-Workplace-Name: ARENA—Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, Norway Abstract: The European Commission has faced increasing criticism that its use of expertise in policy-making is undemocratic and politicized. In response to critics, the Commission has produced a number of publicly available documents where its expert policies and practices are outlined and discussed. Cynics view public communications of this nature with skepticism, as organizations tend to adopt “smooth talk” and cosmetic rhetoric designed to placate critics and create a façade of compliance aimed at decreasing external pressure. An alternative deliberative approach, would expect the Commission to engage in a relatively open, reflective and reason-based interchange. The article’s main aim is to assess the relative merits of these two approaches in capturing the Commission’s framing of its public communication. Cynical expectations, prevalent among Commission critics, are confirmed by the Commission’s silence on unpleasant topics including the undemocratic nature of existing expertise arrangements and the strategic uses of knowledge in EU policy-making. However, firm regulatory initiatives and the Commission’s critical engagement with democratization demands and possible goal conflicts within their critics’ agenda give significant leverage to a deliberative approach. Keywords: deliberative democracy; European Commission; expertise; knowledge utilization; organized hypocracy; public communication Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:1:p:37-48 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Representative Bureaucracy and the Role of Expertise in Politics File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/65 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i1.65 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 1 Pages: 26-36 Author-Name: Jarle Trondal Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Agder, Norway, and ARENA—Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, Norway Author-Name: Zuzana Murdoch Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Agder, Norway, and Organization and Governance Studies, University of Bremen, Germany Author-Name: Benny Geys Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Applied Economics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, and Norwegian Business School BI, Norway Abstract: The vast majority of existing studies on bureaucratic representation focus on bureaucracies’ permanent and internal staff. Yet, the rising sophistication of modern democracies and the technocratization of political life are gradually inducing an increased reliance on external experts to assist in the development and implementation of policy decisions. This trend, we argue, raises the need to extend studies of bureaucratic representation to such external and non-permanent experts in governmental affairs. In this article, we take a first step in this direction using seconded national experts (SNEs) in the European Commission as our empirical laboratory. Our results highlight that Commission SNEs do not appear representative of their constituent population (i.e., the EU-27 population) along a number of socio-demographic dimensions. Moreover, we find that the role perception of “experts” is primarily explained by organizational affiliation, and only secondarily by demographic characteristics (except, of course, education). Keywords: bureaucracy; European Commission; expertise; representation; seconded national experts Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:1:p:26-36 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Organization of Professional Expertise in the European Commission File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/77 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i1.77 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 1 Pages: 13-25 Author-Name: Johan Christensen Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Sociology, Stanford University, USA Abstract: What kind of professional experts dominate within the European Commission—lawyers, economists or others? Driven by the notion that the role of professional experts is shaped by organizational features, the article examines how different kinds of expertise are inscribed in the Commission’s recruitment system and organizational structure. The analysis shows that while economics may have overtaken law as the most common educational background in the Commission, neither the recruitment system nor the departmental structure appears to encourage the development of economic expertise. The proportion of staff hired through economics competitions has dropped markedly, and there are few specialized units for economic analysis in the organization. More generally, the Commission’s hiring policies and organizational hierarchy do not seem conducive to strong expert roles. The picture that emerges is that of an organization where expert knowledge is neither tied to a particular profession nor firmly rooted in the departmental structure. Keywords: economic experts; European Commission; expertise; organization of expertise Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:1:p:13-25 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Expert-Executive Nexus in the EU: An Introduction File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/271 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v3i1.271 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 3 Year: 2015 Issue: 1 Pages: 1-12 Author-Name: Åse Gornitzka Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, and Arena—Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, Norway Author-Name: Cathrine Holst Author-Workplace-Name: Arena—Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, Norway Abstract: Expertise has played a pivotal role in EU executives since the European Union (EU) was established, but its significance is arguably increasing and takes on new shapes. This issue explores the role and use of expert knowledge in decision-making in and by EU executive institutions. Keywords: decision-making; European Union; expert knowledge Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v3:y:2015:i:1:p:1-12