In this article, we analyze to what extent cultural diversity brought about by immigrants affects economic activity of the Spanish provinces. To do that, we use panel data techniques that treat cultural diversity as an endogenous variable and account for spatial linkages. The dual nature of immigrants in Spain, that is, working and retired migration, is also considered in our regressions. The outcomes reveal that greater cultural diversity stimulates the economic activity of the Spanish provinces, these gains being reinforced in the case of labor-active migrant and for richer provinces. Our results are robust to diverse specifications, estimation methods, and samples.
Keywords: cultural diversity; economic development; migration; Spain Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:4:p:118-132 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Introduction to Migration and Refugee Flows: New Insights File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4927 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i4.4927 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 4 Pages: 114-117 Author-Name: Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Economics, University of Göttingen, Germany / Department of Economics, Jaume I University, Spain Abstract: Population movements between countries and continents are not recent phenomena. What is new today is that migration flows are increasingly linked to the globalization process and to environmental degradation. Most of the migrants leave their homes for economic reasons, but also due to the higher frequency of natural disasters. Of the total migrant population, those who escape from conflicts or persecution still represent a smaller fraction and are entitled to obtain refugee status. This thematic issue includes eight articles that analyse migration flows and migration governance from different analytical perspectives. Five of the eight contributions examine the role that several factors play in explaining international migration flows and its effects, namely cultural diversity, information technology tools, governance, terrorism, and attitudes towards immigration. The remaining three articles are country studies that analyse the socio-economic causes/effects of migration flows to Portugal, Spain, and Germany, devoting special attention to forced migration and refugees. Keywords: asylum; cultural diversity; Germany; governance; information technology; migration; Portugal; refugees; Spain; terrorism Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:4:p:114-117 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Governance Challenges for Implementing Nature-Based Solutions in the Asian Region File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4420 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i4.4420 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 4 Pages: 102-113 Author-Name: Kanako Morita Author-Workplace-Name: Center for Biodiversity and Climate Change, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Japan / United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS), Japan Author-Name: Ken'ichi Matsumoto Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Economics, Toyo University, Japan / Research Institute for Global Change, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Japan Abstract: Nature-based solutions (NbS) are recognized under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity. This relatively new concept has become a key element in strategies for green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. NbS consist of a range of measures that address various societal challenges, including climate change, natural disasters, and water security, by combining human well-being and biodiversity benefits. Although the importance of NbS has been widely recognized, existing studies on aspects of their governance are limited and mainly focus on NbS in European countries. There is little relevant research in other regions, including Asia. This study aimed to explore challenges for NbS governance by analyzing the development and implementation of NbS in Asia. We focused on NbS in the fields of climate change mitigation and adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and infrastructure. In these three fields, NbS are linked to climate security issues and have been widely implemented in Asian countries. This analysis identified the challenges for NbS governance for countries at different stages of economic development, and for developing measures for NbS with different institutions and actors. It recognizes the importance of a framework that matches the need for NbS with relevant institutions and actors at various scales and in various sectors. Guidelines are required to integrate NbS into strategies and policies at national and local levels and also into international cooperation. Keywords: Asia; climate change adaptation; climate change mitigation; Convention on Biological Diversity; disaster risk reduction; governance; infrastructure; nature-based solutions; United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:4:p:102-113 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Comprehensive Security: The Opportunities and Challenges of Incorporating Environmental Threats in Security Policy File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4389 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i4.4389 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 4 Pages: 91-101 Author-Name: Helmi Räisänen Author-Workplace-Name: Environmental Policy Research Group (EPRG), Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland / Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), University of Helsinki, Finland / Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland Author-Name: Emma Hakala Author-Workplace-Name: Global Security Programme, Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Finland / Erik Castrén Institute, Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki, Finland / BIOS Research Unit, Helsinki, Finland Author-Name: Jussi T. Eronen Author-Workplace-Name: Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), University of Helsinki, Finland / Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland / BIOS Research Unit, Helsinki, Finland Author-Name: Janne I. Hukkinen Author-Workplace-Name: Environmental Policy Research Group (EPRG), Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland / Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), University of Helsinki, Finland Author-Name: Mikko J. Virtanen Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland Abstract: In security and foreign policy discourse, environmental issues have been discussed increasingly as security threats that require immediate action. Yet, as the traditional security sector does not provide straightforward means to deal with climate change and other environmental issues, this has prompted concerns over undue securitisation and ill-placed extreme measures. We argue that an effective policy to address foreseeable environmental security threats can only be developed and maintained by ensuring that it remains resolutely within the domain of civil society. In this article, we consider the case of Finland, where the policy concept of comprehensive security has been presented as the official guideline for security and preparedness activities in different sectors. Comprehensive security aims to safeguard the vital functions of society through cooperation between authorities, business operators, organisations, and citizens. We analyse the opportunities and challenges of Finland’s comprehensive security policy in addressing environmental changes through a three-level framework of local, geopolitical and structural security impacts. Our empirical evidence is based on a set of expert interviews (n = 40) that represent a wide range of fields relevant to unconventional security issues. We find that the Finnish comprehensive security model provides an example of a wide and inclusive perspective to security which would allow for taking into account environmental security concerns. However, due to major challenges in the implementation of the model, it does not fully incorporate the long-term, cross-sectoral, and cascading aspects of environmental threats. This weakens Finland’s preparedness against climate change which currently poses some of the most urgent environmental security problems. Keywords: climate change; comprehensive security; environmental policy; environmental security; security policy Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:4:p:91-101 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Climate Security and Policy Options in Japan File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4414 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i4.4414 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 4 Pages: 79-90 Author-Name: Seiichiro Hasui Author-Workplace-Name: College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ibaraki University, Japan Author-Name: Hiroshi Komatsu Author-Workplace-Name: Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, Seikei University, Japan Abstract: Climate security has been discussed in both academia and policy documents in the West. A key point that surfaces from these discussions is that the cooperation of non-military organizations is essential for effective responses to climate change-related threats. This overlaps considerably with debates on security in Japan, where the use of force is constitutionally restricted. Therefore, it is possible to localize the concept of climate security to the genealogy of Japan’s security policy that, in the 1980s and 1990s, sought a non-traditional security strategy that did not rely solely on military power in the name of “comprehensive security,” “environmental security,” and “human security.” In Japan, the perspective of climate security is rare. However, the introduction of a unique climate security concept into security policy enables the maintenance of national security and environmental conservation. Additionally, struggling with climate change alongside neighboring countries contributes to mutual confidence building and stability in international relations in Northeast Asia. To achieve this objective, we first show that climate security includes many kinds of security concerns by surveying previous studies and comparing Western countries’ climate security policies. Second, we follow the evolution of Japan’s security policy from 1980 to 2021. Finally, we review Japanese climate security policies and propose policy options. Keywords: climate change adaptation; climate disasters; comprehensive security; environmental security; human security; violent conflict Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:4:p:79-90 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Transforming the Dynamics of Climate Politics in Japan: Business’ Response to Securitization File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4427 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i4.4427 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 4 Pages: 65-78 Author-Name: Takahiro Yamada Author-Workplace-Name: Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Japan Abstract: In 2020, Japan suddenly changed course and made carbon neutrality its intermediate target. In an attempt to understand this drastic policy change, this article analyzes the effects of climate security discourses on the perception of the Japanese business community, which holds the pivotal position in Japan’s climate policy. It particularly focuses on the effect of securitization on the source–impact asymmetry, one of the intrinsic features identified as a major obstacle to effective climate governance. From this standpoint, the article measures the extent to which the issue of climate change has been securitized in Japan, and also the extent to which the Japanese business community has come to share the securitizers’ sense of exigency. In so doing, this article employs the text-mining method called KH Coder to analyze relevant government documents as well as statements issued by Keidanren (also known as Japan Business Federation). The analysis shows that the Ministry of the Environment together with other governmental actors has collectively securitized the issue within the context of Japanese society, but that its impact on industry has been indirect, pointing to the complexity of its causal impact. Keywords: business community; climate policy; environmental politics; Japan; securitization Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:4:p:65-78 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Japan’s Climate Change Discourse: Toward Climate Securitisation? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4419 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i4.4419 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 4 Pages: 53-64 Author-Name: Florentine Koppenborg Author-Workplace-Name: Bavarian School of Public Policy, Technical University Munich, Germany Author-Name: Ulv Hanssen Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Law, Soka University, Japan Abstract: This article situates Japan in the international climate security debate by analysing competing climate change discourses. In 2020, for the first time, the Japanese Ministry of the Environment included the term “climate crisis” (kikō kiki) in its annual white paper, and the Japanese parliament adopted a “climate emergency declaration” (kikō hijō jitai sengen). Does this mean that Japan’s climate discourse is turning toward the securitisation of climate change? Drawing on securitisation theory, this article investigates whether we are seeing the emergence of a climate change securitisation discourse that treats climate change as a security issue rather than a conventional political issue. The analysis focuses on different stakeholders in Japan’s climate policy: the Japanese Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the parliament, the Cabinet, and sub- and non-state actors. Through a discourse analysis of ministry white papers and publications by other stakeholders, the article identifies a burgeoning securitisation discourse that challenges, albeit moderately, the status quo of incrementalism and inaction in Japan’s climate policy. This article further highlights Japan’s position in the rapidly evolving global debate on the urgency of climate action and provides explanations for apparent changes and continuities in Japan’s climate change discourse. Keywords: bureaucratic politics; civil society; climate; crisis; discourse; emergency; Japan; securitisation Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:4:p:53-64 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Gender in the Climate-Conflict Nexus: “Forgotten” Variables, Alternative Securities, and Hidden Power Dimensions File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4275 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i4.4275 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 4 Pages: 43-52 Author-Name: Tobias Ide Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of International Relations, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany / Department of Global Studies, Murdoch University, Australia Author-Name: Marisa O. Ensor Author-Workplace-Name: Justice and Peace Studies Program, Georgetown University, USA Author-Name: Virginie Le Masson Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for Gender and Disaster, Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction, University College London, UK Author-Name: Susanne Kozak Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for Gender, Peace and Security, School of Social Sciences, Monash University, Australia Abstract: The literature on the security implications of climate change, and in particular on potential climate-conflict linkages, is burgeoning. Up until now, gender considerations have only played a marginal role in this research area. This is despite growing awareness of intersections between protecting women’s rights, building peace and security, and addressing environmental changes. This article advances the claim that adopting a gender perspective is integral for understanding the conflict implications of climate change. We substantiate this claim via three main points. First, gender is an essential, yet insufficiently considered intervening variable between climate change and conflict. Gender roles and identities as well as gendered power structures are important in facilitating or preventing climate-related conflicts. Second, climate change does affect armed conflicts and social unrest, but a gender perspective alters and expands the notion of what conflict can look like, and whose security is at stake. Such a perspective supports research inquiries that are grounded in everyday risks and that document alternative experiences of insecurity. Third, gender-differentiated vulnerabilities to both climate change and conflict stem from inequities within local power structures and socio-cultural norms and practices, including those related to social reproductive labor. Recognition of these power dynamics is key to understanding and promoting resilience to conflict and climate change. The overall lessons drawn for these three arguments is that gender concerns need to move center stage in future research and policy on climate change and conflicts. Keywords: Anthropocene; civil war; division of labor; environment; masculinity; protest; resources; social reproduction; violence; vulnerability Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:4:p:43-52 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Strengthening External Emergency Assistance for Managing Extreme Events, Systemic, and Transboundary Risks in Asia File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4457 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i4.4457 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 4 Pages: 27-42 Author-Name: Sivapuram Venkata Rama Krishna Prabhakar Author-Workplace-Name: Adaptation and Water Group, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Japan Author-Name: Kentaro Tamura Author-Workplace-Name: Climate and Energy Group, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Japan Author-Name: Naoyuki Okano Author-Workplace-Name: Adaptation and Water Group, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Japan Author-Name: Mariko Ikeda Author-Workplace-Name: Climate and Energy Group, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Japan Abstract: External emergency assistance (EEA) provided in the aftermath of a disaster has costs and benefits to the donor and recipient countries. Donors benefit from quick recovery feedback effects from the trade and cultural links, and recipient countries have additional resources to manage the emergency. However, EEA costs could outweigh the benefits. Costs include dependency, low development of risk reduction capacity, and staff burdened with managing the assistance as opposed to managing the recovery. Current efforts to reduce dependency on EEA are not sufficient; they are based on limited past experiences with extreme events and are not based on the understanding of future risks. In this article, we present the concept of a climate fragility risk index showing factors that affect a country’s predisposition to be fragile to climate change threats and we suggest that countries with a high climate fragility risk index tend to depend on EEA. Further, the article presents the concept of critical thresholds for extreme events as a metric to identify possible dependency on EEA. In addition, based on expert and policy consultations organized in the Philippines and Pakistan, we identify measures that can enhance the effectiveness of EEA including targeted EEA provision, better integration of lessons learned from the relief stage into the rest of the DRR operations, proper documentation of past assistance experiences and consideration of these lessons for the improvement of EEA in the future, as well as developing tools such as critical threshold concepts that can better guide the donor and recipient countries on more effective delivery of EEA. Keywords: climate change adaptation; climate security; disaster risk reduction; external emergency assistance; extreme events Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:4:p:27-42 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: How Climate-Induced Migration Entered the UN Policy Agenda in 2007–2010: A Multiple Streams Assessment File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4519 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i4.4519 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 4 Pages: 16-26 Author-Name: Elin Jakobsson Author-Workplace-Name: Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Sweden Abstract: In 2007, issues regarding climate-induced migration took a giant leap on the international policy agenda at the same time as a growth of interest in and salience of climate security. From having been a technical non-issue since the 1980s, climate-induced migration became one of the most emphasised consequences of climate change for a short period. After three years of fluidity in actors, institutions, and conceptual framings, issues of climate change and migration reached a formal recognition in the 2010 Cancún Adaptation Framework, marking a new era for policy discussions on climate-induced migration. This article sets out to show why this issue, which had been known to policymakers and academia for at least two decades, took such a major leap up the agenda at this specific point in time. The article draws from rich primary interview material together with an analytical framework based on the multiple streams framework in order to systematically answer this question. In doing so, the article primarily offers an empirical contribution to the knowledge and understanding of the specific agenda-setting mechanisms of climate-induced migration in an international policy context. Keywords: climate change; climate-induced migration; global governance; multiple streams framework; windows of opportunity Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:4:p:16-26 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The United Nations Security Council at the Forefront of (Climate) Change? Confusion, Stalemate, Ignorance File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4573 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i4.4573 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 4 Pages: 5-15 Author-Name: Judith Nora Hardt Author-Workplace-Name: Centre Marc Bloch, Germany Abstract: In the context of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the debate on whether climate change should be included and how has been ongoing since 2007. This article contributes to existing research on this problem by expounding a three-fold analysis. First, it assesses the conceptual approach to the climate-security nexus from the joint statement of 10 UNSC member states in 2020. Second, it critically exposes the confusion of different climate-security conceptions and uncovers shared assumptions of the UNSC-member states in 2020 by comparing their different positions, which makes a soon-to-come agreement likely. Third, it critically evaluates whether the proposal to include climate change into the UNSC will lead to a transformative change of the institution, of the meaning of security, and on how this would correspond to the existential threats outlined in the Anthropocene context. The theoretical framework of analysis draws on critical security studies. It takes as its empirical basis the primary sources of the UNSC debate of 2020 and is also informed by the secondary literature on climate and security and the Earth System Sciences descriptions of the state of the planet. Keywords: Anthropocene; climate change; climate-security nexus; existential threat; United Nations Security Council Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:4:p:5-15 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Climate Change and Security: Filling Remaining Gaps File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4932 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i4.4932 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 4 Pages: 1-4 Author-Name: Yasuko Kameyama Author-Workplace-Name: Social Systems Division, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan Author-Name: Yukari Takamura Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo, Japan Abstract: As perception of climate change as a threat to humanity and to ecosystems grows, the rapidly growing literature increasingly refers to the notion of “climate change and security,” for which there is as yet no single agreed definition. Despite the extent of literature already published, there are at least three remaining gaps: (1) Added theoretical value: How does “climate change and security” differ from similar notions such as “climate crisis” and “climate emergency”? What theoretical gains can be made by securing against climate change? (2) Role of non-state actors: The traditional concept of security is tightly bound to the notion of national security, but the climate change and security discourse opens the door to the participation of non-state actors such as the business sector, local government, and citizens. How do they take part in ensuring security? (3) Regional imbalance: Most of the literature on climate change and security published so far comes from Europe and North America. As other regions, such as Asia, are just as affected, more voices should be heard from those regions. This issue aims to address some of these gaps. The nine articles in this issue address the notion of “climate change and security” through empirical work while theoretically contributing to several themes relating to the climate change and security discourse. Keywords: climate change; conflict; discourse; human security; management; risk; security Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:4:p:1-4 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: A Nice Tailwind: The EU’s Goal Achievement at the IMO Initial Strategy File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4296 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4296 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 401-411 Author-Name: Joseph Earsom Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science Louvain-Europe, University of Louvain (UCLouvain), Belgium Author-Name: Tom Delreux Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science Louvain-Europe, University of Louvain (UCLouvain), Belgium Abstract: In April 2018, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) reached agreement on its Initial Strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping. The Initial Strategy was a success for the EU, as it achieved its long-term objective of reaching an international agreement on greening shipping. However, several factors call into question whether the “success” was the result of the role played by the EU. Using process-tracing, we provide insight into the factors and the mechanism that led the EU to achieve its objective with the Initial Strategy. The article finds that the EU’s goal achievement was the result of a mechanism triggered by (1) its overarching objective for action in the IMO on emissions in international shipping; (2) an entrepreneurial coalition partner; and (3) mounting momentum for action in the IMO. While the EU, including through its member states, played an important role in the negotiations, it only did so relatively late in the process, building on the successful work of the Shipping High Ambition Coalition. Based on this case study, we note implications not only for the proposed aspects of the European Green Deal related to greenhouse gas emissions from shipping, but also our understanding of the EU as an international (climate) actor. Keywords: climate negotiations; European Green Deal; European Union; maritime emissions Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:401-411 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Polish Climate Policy Narratives: Uniqueness, Alternative Pathways, and Nascent Polarisation File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4349 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4349 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 391-400 Author-Name: Katja Biedenkopf Author-Workplace-Name: Leuven International and European Studies, University of Leuven, Belgium Abstract: European Union (EU) climate politics have polarised over the past decade. Poland especially stands out as the EU member state that has most vehemently opposed numerous decisions to increase the EU’s level of ambition, stirring some turbulence in EU climate politics. Yet, with the publication of the European Green Deal (EGD) in 2019, the European Commission has likewise created turbulence in the Polish parliament’s climate debate. This article analyses those debates and identifies three distinct policy narratives: Poland is in a unique situation, Poland pursues an alternative pathway, and climate policy endangers competitiveness. The alternative pathway narrative, which advocates for the continued use of coal while capturing emissions, faded at roughly the same time when the EGD was proposed at the EU level. Simultaneously, the unique situation narrative, which calls for recognition of Poland’s uniqueness in combination with increased (financial) support, became stronger. The analysis confirms the dominance of the governing party’s narratives, but contrary to previous studies, detects nascent polarisation on climate policy between the right-wing political parties, on the one hand, and the centre-right and centre-left parties, on the other. Keywords: climate policy; European Green Deal; Poland; polarisation; policy narratives; Sejm Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:391-400 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Deliberative Mini-Publics and the European Green Deal in Turbulent Times: The Irish and French Climate Assemblies File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4382 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4382 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 380-390 Author-Name: Diarmuid Torney Author-Workplace-Name: School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, Ireland Abstract: Innovative forms of deliberative democracy are gaining traction in governing responses to climate change in Europe and beyond. Proponents of deliberative democracy have drawn attention to its particular suitability for shaping responses to environmental challenges. Citizen engagement and participation is also a prominent feature of the European Green Deal. This article considers the relationship between turbulence and deliberative democracy in the context of climate transitions, exploring when and how such democratic innovations are likely to generate turbulence in the governance of climate transitions. A framework is developed that focuses on three important sets of characteristics of deliberative mini-publics (DMPs): (a) the nature of their formal mandates and the ways in which climate change is framed as a policy problem; (b) the nature of participation and the degree to which the participants are empowered to shape the deliberative processes in which they participate; and (c) the degree to which DMPs are coupled with relevant policymaking processes. This framework is used to explore two recent and high-profile cases of a particular type of DMP: citizens’ assemblies in Ireland and France. The article contributes to the literatures on turbulent governance and deliberative democracy by reflecting on key dimensions of DMPs from the analytical perspective of turbulent governance. Keywords: climate change; deliberative democracy; democratic mini-public; European Green Deal; turbulence Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:380-390 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The European Green Deal: What Prospects for Governing Climate Change With Policy Monitoring? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4306 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4306 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 370-379 Author-Name: Jonas J. Schoenefeld Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Housing and Environment (IWU), Germany / Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, UK Abstract: The European Green Deal (EGD) puts forward and engages with review mechanisms, such as the European Semester and policy monitoring, to ensure progress towards the long-term climate targets in a turbulent policy environment. Soft-governance mechanisms through policy monitoring have been long in the making, but their design, effects, and politics remain surprisingly under-researched. While some scholars have stressed their importance to climate governance, others have highlighted the difficulties in implementing robust policy monitoring systems, suggesting that they are neither self-implementing nor apolitical. This article advances knowledge on climate policy monitoring in the EU by proposing a new analytical framework to better understand past, present, and potential future policy monitoring efforts, especially in the context of the EGD. Drawing on Lasswell (1965), it unpacks the politics of policy monitoring by analysing who monitors, what, why, when, and with what effect(s). The article discusses each element of the framework with a view to three key climate policy monitoring efforts in the EU which are particularly relevant for the EGD, namely those emerging from the Energy Efficiency Directive, the Renewable Energy Directive, and the Monitoring Mechanism Regulation (now included in the Energy Union Governance Regulation), as well as related processes for illustration. Doing so reveals that the policy monitoring regimes were set up differently in each case, that definitions of the subject of monitoring (i.e., public policies) either differ or remain elusive, and that the corresponding political and policy impact of monitoring varies. The article concludes by reflecting on the implications of the findings for governing climate change by means of monitoring through the emerging EGD. Keywords: climate policy; energy efficiency; energy policy; Energy Union; European Green Deal; Monitoring Mechanism; Paris Agreement; policy monitoring; renewable energy; soft governance Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:370-379 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Energy Security in Turbulent Times Towards the European Green Deal File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4336 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4336 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 360-369 Author-Name: Odysseas Christou Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Law, University of Nicosia, Cyprus Abstract: This article presents a theoretical approach to energy security. It incorporates the concept of governing through turbulence as both a response to crisis onset and a source of long-term policy adaptation. The article applies this framework to an empirical analysis of the energy and climate policy of the EU through a review of policy documents in the period between 1995 and 2020. The article presents the evolution in the conceptualization of energy security in EU policy from a narrow definition restricted to characteristics of energy supply to an expanded conception that integrates additional elements from associated policy areas. The article argues that the European Green Deal represents the culmination of this process and concludes that the convergence of energy and climate policy objectives reinforces the trend towards the widened conceptual scope of energy security. Keywords: energy; Energy Union; European Green Deal; governance; policy; security; turbulence Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:360-369 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The European Council, the Council, and the European Green Deal File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4326 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4326 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 348-359 Author-Name: Jeffrey Rosamond Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Public Governance and Management, Ghent University, Belgium Author-Name: Claire Dupont Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Public Governance and Management, Ghent University, Belgium Abstract: We assess the response of the European Council and the Council of the European Union (hereafter the Council) to the emergence and development of the European Green Deal (EGD). First, we conduct a literature review of the historical role of the two intergovernmental institutions in EU climate policy development, drawing inspiration from new intergovernmentalism, historical institutionalism, and discursive institutionalism. Next, we provide an overview of the EGD itself and three of its core elements: (1) the ambition to achieve climate neutrality by 2050; (2) its systemic and integrative nature; and (3) the just transition approach. We then present the results of a qualitative content analysis of all Council and European Council Conclusions from 2018 to 2020. Our findings show that the European Council and the Council have declared support for the EGD and its underlying principles. The European Council engaged with all three elements but mentioned the objective of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 most frequently and with growing intensity over the years studied. The Council similarly discussed the three elements of the EGD and gave increasing focus to the integrated/systemic transition over the course of the years 2018–2020. Our empirical analysis suggests that, on paper, the Council and the European Council may manage to govern through the organisational turbulence of member state divisions on climate governance. Furthermore, environmental turbulence arising from external contexts (e.g., economic and health crises) did not dampen their declared support towards the goals of the EGD. Keywords: climate policy; Council of the European Union; European Council; European Green Deal; turbulence Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:348-359 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: EU Climate and Energy Policy: How Myopic Is It? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4320 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4320 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 337-347 Author-Name: Jana Gheuens Author-Workplace-Name: Brussels School of Governance, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium Author-Name: Sebastian Oberthür Author-Workplace-Name: Brussels School of Governance, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium / Centre for Climate Change, Energy and Environmental Law, University of Eastern Finland, Finland Abstract: This article investigates the shortsightedness or myopia of recent climate and energy policy (CEP) in the EU. To this end, it develops and applies a measurement tool of short-termism composed of four key criteria: (1) the reflection of science-based long-term thinking in the policy process and its output; (2) the degree to which mid-term greenhouse gas emission targets and accompanying policies align with science-based long-term objectives; (3) the stringency of the legislation; and (4) its adaptability. We use these criteria to assess the levels of short-termism of the EU’s 2020 and 2030 CEP frameworks and the (still evolving) European Green Deal (EGD). Overall, we find that the level of myopia of EU CEP has fluctuated and has advanced far less than the development of the nominal mid-term emission targets might suggest. The EGD’s 55% emission reduction target for 2030 only constitutes a return to the levels of alignment with science-based long-term objectives existing in the 2020 Package (making good on the regression of the 2030 Framework). It is primarily due to the maturing of long-term thinking and a ratcheting mechanism, that EU climate policy under the EGD can be considered less myopic than the 2020 Package (although the assessment remains preliminary pending the adoption of further implementing legislation). These findings lay the ground for future research that not only investigates reasons for the general myopia of (EU) climate policy, but also the drivers of the fluctuations over time. Keywords: 2020 Package; 2030 Framework; ambition; effort sharing; emissions trading; European Climate Law; European Green Deal; myopia Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:337-347 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Coping With Turbulence: EU Negotiations on the 2030 and 2050 Climate Targets File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4267 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4267 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 327-336 Author-Name: Marco Siddi Author-Workplace-Name: European Union Research Programme, Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Finland Abstract: This article analyses European Union (EU) negotiations on the European Climate Law and the 2030 Climate Target Plan in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Adopting Ansell and Trondal’s (2018) conceptualisation of turbulence, it argues that the pandemic intensified the environmental turbulence within which European policy makers had been operating following Brexit, the rule of law dispute with Poland and Hungary, and the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States. Organisational turbulence within EU institutions also affected the negotiations, particularly due to the reliance of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the political support of East-Central European governments that are sceptical of ambitious climate action. Moreover, the Commission, the European Council and the Parliament have taken different positions on the 2030 climate target and on the governance to pursue subsequent targets. Turbulence of scale—reflecting the nature of the EU as a multi-level actor—became relevant too, as the EU found it difficult to agree on its 2030 climate target due to disputes between member states and European institutions. European decision makers responded to turbulence through major policy initiatives, such as the EU Recovery Plan, the Green Deal agenda, and making funds conditional to the respect of the rule of law. They also pursued intra-EU compromises that accommodated different positions—for instance, on the Climate Law. Nonetheless, turbulence continues to pose a formidable challenge to the progress of the EU’s climate agenda. Keywords: 2030 climate and energy framework; climate; European Climate Law; European Green Deal; European Union; turbulence Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:327-336 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Driving the European Green Deal in Turbulent Times File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4321 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4321 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 316-326 Author-Name: Mary Dobbs Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Law, Maynooth University, Ireland Author-Name: Viviane Gravey Author-Workplace-Name: School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, Queen’s University Belfast, UK Author-Name: Ludivine Petetin Author-Workplace-Name: School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University, UK Abstract: The European Green Deal (EGD) is an ambitious strategy. However, significant events, incidents, and demands, from democratic backsliding in the EU to the Covid-19 pandemic, are causing the ground to shift underfoot. These events go beyond ordinary changes or even individual crises, cumulatively fuelling a “new normal” of turbulence for the EU, encompassing rapid, unpredictable changes. This turbulence can help and hinder policy design and implementation, requiring policy actors to think outside the box and beyond the status quo. This article investigates how the European Commission and other key actors can engage effectively with turbulence to ensure the successful delivery and implementation of the EGD. The first half of the article strengthens and adapts turbulent governance literature (Ansell & Trondal, 2018). It delineates how turbulence differs from crisis; expands the forms of turbulence to include horizontal scalar and policy turbulence, as well as its transversal attribute; and shifts the focus to governing with turbulence rather than against turbulence. The second half undertakes an initial analysis of the EGD in light of turbulence and provides a springboard for further investigations within this thematic issue and beyond. It is apparent that the EGD is both responding and contributing to a varied landscape of turbulence. Policy actors must identify and understand the sources of turbulence—including their transversal nature and the potential for responses to increase turbulence—if they are to effectively govern with turbulence. Keywords: crisis; environmental governance; environmental turbulence; European Green Deal; organisational turbulence; policy turbulence; scalar turbulence Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:316-326 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: European Union Climate Governance and the European Green Deal in Turbulent Times File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4896 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4896 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 312-315 Author-Name: Claire Dupont Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Public Governance and Management, Ghent University, Belgium Author-Name: Diarmuid Torney Author-Workplace-Name: School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, Ireland Abstract: In December 2019, the European Commission published the European Green Deal (EGD), an overarching policy framework to achieve climate neutrality in Europe by 2050. This thematic issue aims to understand the origins, form, development, and scope of the EGD and its policy areas. It uses the concept of turbulence to explore and assess the emergence of the EGD and the policy and governance choices associated with it. Focusing on different levels of governance, different policy domains, and different stages of policymaking, each contribution raises pertinent questions about the necessity of identifying sources of turbulence and of understanding how to govern with such turbulence, rather than against it. Overall, the articles in this issue demonstrate that, while specifying contextual factors, researching the sources of and responses to turbulence provides useful insights into the development, direction, and potential durability or advancement of EU climate governance. Keywords: climate change; European Green Deal; European Union; turbulent governance Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:312-315 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Post-Truth Politics, Digital Media, and the Politicization of the Global Compact for Migration File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3985 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.3985 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 301-311 Author-Name: Maximilian Conrad Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Political Science, University of Iceland, Iceland Abstract: The debate over the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) in late 2018 showcases the crucial role of digital and, in particular, social media as vehicles of disinformation that populist actors can exploit in an effort to create resentment and fear in the public sphere. While mainstream political actors and legacy media initially did not address the issue, right-wing populist actors claimed ownership by framing (presumably obligatory) mass immigration as a matter of social, cultural, economic, and not least political risk, and created an image of political and cultural elites conspiring to keep the issue out of the public sphere. Initially advanced via digital and social media, such frames resonated sufficiently strongly in civil society to politicize the GCM in various national public spheres. In this article, these dynamics are explored by comparing the politicization of the GCM in three EU member states, namely Germany, Austria, and Sweden. Using a process-tracing design, the article (a) identifies the key actors in the process, (b) analyzes how the issue emerged in social and other digital media and travelled from digital media into mainstream mass media discourse, and finally (c) draws comparative conclusions from the three analyzed cases. Particular emphasis is placed on the frames used by right-wing populist actors, how these frames resonated in the wider public sphere and thereby generated communicative power against the GCM, ultimately forcing the issue onto the agenda of national public spheres and political institutions. Keywords: communicative power; digital media; frame analysis; Global Compact for Migration; populism; public sphere Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:301-311 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Feeling Left Behind by Political Decisionmakers: Anti-Establishment Sentiment in Contemporary Democracies File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3949 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.3949 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 288-300 Author-Name: Luigi Droste Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Sociology, University of Münster, Germany Abstract: According to much of the extant literature, feelings and beliefs among many citizens of being left behind and unheard by unresponsive political decisionmakers, who lack moral integrity represent the epicenter of recent protest and populist discontent in democratic society. Based on survey data for 20 contemporary democracies from two ISSP waves, we found that anti-establishment attitudes are not shared among the majority of respondents. Although there are differences between country contexts. Such sentiment is associated with macrostructural dynamics, since unfavorable attitudes toward politicians are more widespread among publics in countries which are exposed to higher levels of public corruption and witnessed increasing levels of income inequality. Besides, such sentiment is also restricted to particular social groups of society, because hostile feelings toward political decisionmakers are stronger among citizens in the lower ranks of society and among younger birth cohorts. Since the beginning of the century and throughout the Great Recession, unfavorable attitudes toward politicians have not increased among the public in advanced democracies. However, our analysis indicates that respondents with such attitudes have increasingly turned toward voting for anti-elite parties to raise their voice and now make use of online options to express their political views more frequently than in the past. Overall, the analysis contributes to recent research on populist and reactionist dynamics in contemporary democracies by addressing dynamics and structures of the feeling of being left behind by political decisionmakers and its implications for political (in)activity. Keywords: anti-elitism; anti-establishment sentiment; democratic discontent; ISSP; political participation; populist attitudes Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:288-300 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Perceptions, Resentment, Economic Distress, and Support for Right-Wing Populist Parties in Europe File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3961 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.3961 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 274-287 Author-Name: Diogo Ferrari Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of California – Riverside, USA Abstract: Research has demonstrated that resentful emotions toward the politics and perceptions of being culturally and economically threatened by immigration increase support for populist parties in some European countries, and that macro-level economic conditions engender those perceptions and emotions and increase populist support. This article reveals that household-level economic conditions also affect perceptions of cultural and economic threat by immigrants. Low- and middle-income populations are more vulnerable to suffer economic distress due to macro-level factors such as import shock, which can increase their resentment toward democracy, and their perceptions that immigration is a cultural and economic threat, therefore increasing the likelihood to vote for populist parties. A mediation analysis using the European Social Survey data from 2002 to 2018 provides evidence for the argument. Keywords: economic conditions; economic distress; populism; voting behavior Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:274-287 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Political Reactionism as Affective Practice: UKIP Supporters and Non-Voters in Pre-Brexit England File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4261 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4261 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 260-273 Author-Name: Gavin Brent Sullivan Author-Workplace-Name: International Psychoanalytic University Berlin, Germany / Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University, UK Abstract: United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) supporters and non-voters in England participate respectively in forms of engaged and disengaged anti-political activity, but the role of individual, group-based, and collective emotions is still unclear. Drawing upon recent analyses of the complex emotional dynamics (e.g., ressentiment) underpinning the growth of right-wing populist political movements and support for parties such as UKIP, this analysis explores the affective features of reactionary political stances. The framework of affective practices is used to show how resentful affects are created, facilitated, and transformed in sharing or suppressing populist political views and practices; that is, populism is evident not only in the prevalence and influence of illiberal and anti-elite discourses but also should be explored as it is embodied and enacted in “past focused” and “change resistant” everyday actions and in relation to opportunities that “sediment” affect-laden political positions and identities. Reflexive thematic analysis of data from qualitative interviews with UKIP voters and non-voters (who both supported leaving the EU) in 2015 after the UK election but before the EU referendum vote showed that many participants: 1) shared “condensed” complaints about politics and enacted resentment towards politicians who did not listen to them, 2) oriented towards shameful and purportedly shameless racism about migrants, and 3) appeared to struggle with shame and humiliation attributed to the EU in a complex combination of transvaluation of the UK and freedom of movement, a nostalgic need for restoration of national pride, and endorsement of leaving the EU as a form of “change backwards.” Keywords: affective practice; Brexit; EU referendum; non-voters; populism; national pride; reactionism; ressentiment; shame; UKIP Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:260-273 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Angry Reactionary Narcissists? Anger Activates the Link Between Narcissism and Right-Populist Party Support File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4000 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4000 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 248-259 Author-Name: Sabrina Jasmin Mayer Author-Workplace-Name: Cluster for Data and Methods, German Center for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM), Germany / Department of Political Science, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany Author-Name: Christoph Giang Nguyen Author-Workplace-Name: Otto-Suhr Institute, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany Abstract: Even though previous research connected personality traits and support for radical-right populist parties (RRP), the question of which mechanisms connect these concepts is still underexplored. In particular, we focus on narcissistic rivalry, a maladaptive path of grandiose narcissism. Drawing on the affective intelligence framework and the narcissistic admiration and rivalry concept, we propose that the effect of rival narcissism on vote choice for the German Alternative für Deutschland is mediated by reactionary political orientations and activated by anger. Drawing on 2017 data from the mixed-mode representative GESIS panel (N = 2,552 & 1,901), we employ moderated mediation analyses. We show that reactionary political orientations mediate the relationship between narcissistic rivalry and RRP support. However, high levels of generalised anger are needed to activate the relationship between personality, reactionary values, and RRP support, whereas the mediating role of anti-immigrant sentiment is not affected by anger. Our study emphasises the role of anger in RRP support, thus showing that anger might explain why only some people with a specific predisposition support RRPs. The study also stresses the complexity of the relationship between personality, value orientations, and political behaviour. Keywords: anger; emotions; narcissism; reactionary politics; right-populist vote Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:248-259 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Resentment and Coping With the Democratic Dilemma File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4026 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4026 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 237-247 Author-Name: Karen Celis Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium Author-Name: Louise Knops Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium Author-Name: Virginie Van Ingelgom Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science Louvain-Europe (ISPOLE), UCLouvain, Belgium Author-Name: Soetkin Verhaegen Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University, The Netherlands Abstract: Resentment is a complex, multi-layered emotion, within which perceptions of unfairness and feelings of anger are central. When linked to politics, it has predominantly been associated with the alleged “crisis of representative democracy” and populism. However, recent studies have shown that resentment can intervene positively in people’s relations to politics and political institutions by facilitating certain types of political participation (Capelos & Demertzis, 2018). Despite this, the concept of resentment, and hence its role in contemporary representative democracy, is often poorly defined, with empirical investigations of its manifestation(s) remaining scarce. Borrowing a conceptualization of resentment as “resentful affectivity,” our article draws on the analysis of focus groups carried out in Belgium (2019–2020) with individuals where resentful affectivity is likely to be observed (i.e., contemporary movements of contestation such as the Yellow Vests, Youth for Climate, and individuals who occupy a socially disadvantaged position). We find that experiences of intense anger, fear, disappointment, and the unfairness of representative democracy, i.e., of how representative democracy works on the ground, coexist simultaneously with remaining hopes in the democratic system. We show how this complex blend of emotions confronts citizens with what we call a “democratic dilemma.” We document the different ways in which citizens cope with this dilemma and conclude by highlighting both the positive and negative ways in which resentment intervenes in the contemporary “crisis of representative democracy.” Keywords: affectivity; emotions; representative democracy; resentment Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:237-247 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Double Ressentiment: The Political Communication of Kulturkampf in Hungary File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4053 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4053 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 227-236 Author-Name: Balázs Kiss Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Political Science, Centre for Social Sciences, Eötvös Loránd Research Network (ELKH), Hungary Abstract: Emotions have always been invested in politics. Politicians and politically biased public intellectuals manage citizens’ emotions for various purposes: to alienate them from the rival political camp and to make them participate in elections or in politics in general. Ressentiment is an affective style of great political potential and it is present throughout democratic European societies. By analysing the discourses of the culture war between the political camps in Hungary since 2018, this article presents the components, drivers, mechanisms, and some typical outcomes of ressentiment on the levels of the individual and the political communities. It argues that in political communication both political sides are trying to appeal to the citizens’ ressentiment. Both camps use communicative means to incite, channel, and reorient ressentiment by, e.g., scapegoating, identity work, and transvaluation to attract citizens, stabilize their own support, and nudge followers towards specific political activities. Keywords: identity work; political communication; political psychology; ressentiment; victimization Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:227-236 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Reimagining the Medieval: The Utility of Ethnonational Symbols for Reactionary Transnational Social Movements File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3979 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.3979 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 215-226 Author-Name: Matthew Godwin Author-Workplace-Name: Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, UK Author-Name: Elisabeth Trischler Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Medieval Studies, University of Leeds, UK Abstract: Scholars have explored the rise of far-right reactionary political parties in Europe over the last decade. However, social movements reflecting similar political orientations have rarely been conceptualized as “reactionary.” To better understand the political orientations of reactionary transnational social movements such as the Identitarians and the Defence Leagues, we explore how and why ethnonational symbols derived from the medieval period are utilized by adherents. This interdisciplinary investigation argues that, through processes of mediated political medievalism, ethnonational symbols are used as strategic framing devices to reimagine an idealized “golden age” of distinct European nations, to assign blame for the erosion of ethnonational identity through multiculturalism, immigration and “Islamization,” to establish an intergenerational struggle against the supposed incursion of Islam in Europe, and to proscribe and justify the use of violence as a means of re-establishing the primacy of European nations. Keywords: crusades; Defence League; ethnonational symbols; Identitarians; medievalism; reactionary movements Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:215-226 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Islamist and Nativist Reactionary Radicalisation in Europe File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3877 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.3877 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 204-214 Author-Name: Ayhan Kaya Author-Workplace-Name: Department of International Relations, Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey Abstract: In this article, the term “radicalisation” is discussed as a process that appears to be a defensive and reactionary response of various individuals suffering from social, economic, and political forms of exclusion, subordination, alienation, humiliation, and isolation. To that effect, the article challenges the mainstream understanding of radicalisation. In doing so, the work concentrates on the elaboration of reactionary radicalisation processes of self-identified Muslim youth and self-identified native youth residing in Europe. The main reason behind the selection of these two groups is the assumption that both groups are co-radicalizing each other in the contemporary world that is defined by the ascendance of a civilizational political discourse since the war in the Balkans in the 1990s. Based on the findings of in-depth interviews conducted with youngsters from both groups in Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, the work demonstrates that the main drivers of the radicalisation processes of these two groups cannot be explicated through the reproduction of civilizational, cultural, and religious differences. Instead, the drivers of radicalisation for both groups are very identical as they are both socio-economically, politically, and psychologically deprived of certain elements constrained by the flows of globalization and dominant forms of neo-liberal governance. Keywords: asabiyya; deprivation; honour; Islamophobia; justice; nativism; populism; radicalisation Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:204-214 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Ressentiment: A Complex Emotion or an Emotional Mechanism of Psychic Defences? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4251 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4251 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 191-203 Author-Name: Mikko Salmela Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland / Centre for Subjectivity Research, Department of Communication, University of Copenhagen, Denmark Author-Name: Tereza Capelos Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham, UK Abstract: Ressentiment is central for understanding the psychological foundations of reactionary politics, right-wing populism, Islamic fundamentalism, and radicalism. In this article we theorise ressentiment as an emotional mechanism which, reinforcing a morally superior sense of victimhood, expedites two parallel transvaluation processes: What was once desired or valued, yet unattainable, is reassessed as something undesirable and rotten, and one’s own self from being inferior, a loser, is reassessed as being noble and superior. We establish negative emotions of envy, shame, and inefficacious anger as the main triggers of ressentiment, with their associated feelings of inferiority and impotence, which target the vulnerable self. We identify the outcomes of ressentiment as other-directed negative emotions of resentment, indignation, and hatred, reinforced and validated by social sharing. We map the psychological structure of ressentiment in four stages, each employing idiosyncratic defences that depend on the ego-strength of the individual to deliver the transvaluation of the self and its values, and finally detail how social sharing consolidates the outcome emotions, values, and identities in ressentiment through shallow twinship bonds with like-minded peers. Our interdisciplinary theoretical account integrates classic philosophical scholarship of ressentiment and its contemporary proponents in philosophy and sociology, which highlight envy as the prime driver of ressentiment; it also considers the sociological approaches that focus on the repression and transmutation of shame and its social consequences, as well as the psychoanalytic scholarship on psychic defences and political psychology models on the emotionality of decision-making. We conclude the article by elaborating the political implications of ressentiment as the emotional mechanism of grievance politics. Keywords: emotional mechanism; philosophy; political psychology; psychic defences; psychoanalysis; reactionism; resentment; ressentiment; sociology Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:191-203 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Reactionary Politics and Resentful Affect in Populist Times File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4727 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4727 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 186-190 Author-Name: Tereza Capelos Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham, UK Author-Name: Stavroula Chrona Author-Workplace-Name: Department of European and International Studies, King’s College London, UK Author-Name: Mikko Salmela Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland / Center for Subjectivity Research, Department of Communication, University of Copenhagen, Denmark Author-Name: Cristiano Bee Author-Workplace-Name: School of Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, UK Abstract: This thematic issue brings together ten articles from political psychology, political sociology, philosophy, history, public policy, media studies, and electoral studies, which examine reactionary politics and resentful affect in populist times. Keywords: affect; emotions; populism; radicalism; reactionism; resentment Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:186-190 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility: A Next Phase in EU Socioeconomic Governance? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4290 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4290 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 175-185 Author-Name: Sonja Bekker Author-Workplace-Name: Research Cluster on Empirical Legal Studies into Institutions for Conflict Resolution—ERI, Utrecht University, The Netherlands / Department of Private, Business & Labour Law—PBLL, Tilburg University, The Netherlands Abstract: The European Semester (Semester) was implemented a decade ago. Ample research has addressed the Semester’s development, including some major changes in processes and content (Verdun & Zeitlin, 2018). The Covid-19 crisis seems to mark the next stage in the evolution of the Semester. It connects the Semester with the wider Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and links its country-specific recommendations to conditional financial support. Thus, the next stage of the Semester suggests a stronger and more deliberate interlinkage of different EU tools that jointly guide national socioeconomic policies. It should support both national public investment and reforms while focusing on meeting the EU priority of moving towards a climate-neutral, digitalized, and resilient Europe (De la Porte & Dagnis Jensen, 2021). This article addresses the question of what room the new-style Semester gives to the involvement of national-level actors, such as national parliaments. Therefore, it expands existing analytical frameworks in order to assess the RRF in connection to the Semester, focusing on the degree of obligation, enforcement, and centralisation. Jointly, this outlines the room the RRF gives to the participation of national actors in the Semester. The article concludes that although the national parliaments are not mentioned in the Regulation establishing the RRF, they could claim a role both in developing national plans for accessing financial support as well as in amending and approving reforms. Keywords: European Semester; European social policy; national parliament; Recovery and Resilience Facility Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:175-185 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Pragmatism and the Limits to the European Parliament’s Strategies for Self-Empowerment File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4243 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4243 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 163-174 Author-Name: Carlos Closa Montero Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Public Goods and Policies, Spanish National Research Council, Spain / School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute, Italy Author-Name: Felipe González de León Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Public Goods and Policies, Spanish National Research Council, Spain Author-Name: Gisela Hernández González Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Public Goods and Policies, Spanish National Research Council, Spain Abstract: Despite the European Parliament’s (EP) growing role, its influence and scrutiny capacity remain considerably weaker than the role traditionally reserved for parliaments in economic and fiscal policy decision-making at the national level. The EP has exploited any opportunity to enhance these powers: In particular, the EP has a record of using crisis and extraordinary situations to expand its role beyond the formal prerogatives given to the institution. Following this literature, this article examines the role and influence of the EP on economic and fiscal policy, focusing on the response to the Covid-19 crisis. Negotiation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility presents an auspicious area to analyse the strategies implemented by the EP to influence the outcome and reinforce its position in EU economic governance. The article will look specifically at the formal and informal mechanisms used by the EP during the crisis to expand its powers. Moreover, it utilises a research design that combines the content analysis of several official/public documents and statements from key members of the European Parliament (MEPs) involved in economic policy. Keywords: accountability; Covid-19; economic governance; economic policy; empowerment; European Parliament; negotiation Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:163-174 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Accountability in EU Economic Governance: European Commissioners in Polish Parliament File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4335 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4335 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 155-162 Author-Name: Tomasz P. Woźniakowski Author-Workplace-Name: Hertie School, Germany Abstract: This article analyses the interactions between the members of the Polish parliament with the European commissioners in the context of the European Semester, the annual cycle of economic coordination. The Commission drafts crucial documents in this process which assess the implementation of the Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs): the Annual (Sustainable) Growth Survey and the Country Reports. The goal of this article is to assess how the Commission is held to account by a national parliament and how this affects the level of implementation of CSRs. The findings suggest that the Commission is accountable to this national parliament, even if the form of accountability taken is rather innovative and its policy impact limited, at both the EU (the CSRs tend to be immune to Members of [national] Parliament’s contestation) and the national level, as the implementation of CSRs seems to be independent of the level of their scrutiny. Keywords: CSRs; European Semester; EU accountability; EU economic governance; national parliaments; Sejm Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:155-162 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Accountability Revisited: Parliamentary Perspectives on the Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Stability, Economic Coordination, and Governance File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4142 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4142 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 145-154 Author-Name: Karolina Borońska-Hryniewiecka Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science, University of Wrocław, Poland Abstract:This article aims to verify whether, and to what extent, the Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Stability, Economic Coordination and Governance (IPC SECG) has become an accountability enhancing arena through which domestic legislatures can better scrutinize the process of the European Semester. While there is a broad scholarship on the difficult institutionalization of the IPC SECG and controversies related to its operation, little has been said about its actual performance as an accountability enhancing platform, especially in the context of domestic interactions between parliaments and executives in the area of economic governance. Despite it being operational for several years, the scholarship lacks focus on the national parliaments’ perspective with regard to this Conference’s effectiveness. Against this background, drawing from comparative data obtained from questionnaires and interviews, this article addresses the above-mentioned aspects from an actor-oriented approach and delves deeper into parliamentary perceptions of the SECG Conference. Findings indicate that attendance at the SECG Conference by MPs has neither significantly affected their domestic parliamentary activity in the area of economic governance and budgetary policy, nor improved the existing domestic legislative-executive relationship in this context. The Conference’s procedural weaknesses are only one part of the problem, another being the marginalized domestic position of parliaments in the European Semester procedure.
Keywords: accountability; European Semester; European Union; inter-parliamentary conferences; national parliaments Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:145-154 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Do Independent Fiscal Institutions Enhance Parliamentary Accountability in the Eurozone? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4244 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4244 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 135-144 Author-Name: Cristina Fasone Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, LUISS University, Italy Abstract: Independent fiscal institutions (IFIs) have been established or reformed in all eurozone countries following the reform of economic governance. As they are expected to counter the deficit bias of the governments and the information asymmetry of the legislatures and the public over the management of the budget, IFIs may support or even strengthen parliamentary accountability. This hypothesis is tested with regard to three IFIs, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, the Italian Parliamentary Budget Office, and the Spanish Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility. Although the economic context in which the IFIs were created was similar in the three eurozone countries, as was their mandate, these institutions have a rather different institutional positioning, being within the Parliament, in Italy; within the Executive, in Spain; and a stand-alone body in Ireland. This is likely to influence the IFIs’ contribution to parliamentary accountability, we hypothesize that the closer the position of an IFI and its contacts to the parliament, the stronger is the scrutiny of the executive on budgetary policies. The analysis of parliamentary questions, hearings, and of the activation of the ‘comply or explain’ procedures shows that, overall, the IFIs’ potential role to enhance parliamentary accountability has remained underexploited by the three legislatures, with no significant differences as for the institutional positioning of the IFI. Keywords: European economic governance; independent fiscal institutions; Ireland; Italy; parliamentary accountability; Spain Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:135-144 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Parliamentary Scrutiny of the European Semester: The Case of Poland File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4250 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4250 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 124-134 Author-Name: Christian Schweiger Author-Workplace-Name: Chair for Comparative European Governance Systems, Institute for Political Science, Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany Abstract: The European Semester became an essential part of the revised governance architecture of the Europe 2020 reform strategy for the Single European Market under the conditions of the global financial crisis and the emerging eurozone crisis a decade ago. The article examines to what extent the European Semester offers channels to establish throughput legitimacy by granting national parliaments the ability to effectively scrutinise executive decision-making in the annual policy cycle. Poland is chosen as the case study for parliamentary scrutiny of the EU’s system of multi-level governance in the East-Central European region. The analysis adopts a liberal intergovernmentalist two-level approach. On the domestic level it concentrates on the involvement of the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, on the drafting of the Polish National Reform Plans for the annual Semester policy cycle between 2015 and 2020. The basis for the analysis are official transcripts from the plenary debates in the relevant committees, the European Affairs Committee and the Public Finance and the Economic Committee. The Polish case study illustrates that the European Semester represents a predominantly elite-driven process of policy coordination, which is strongly geared towards EU-level executive bargaining processes between national governments and the European Commission at the expense of domestic parliamentary scrutiny. Keywords: economic governance; European Semester; European Union; national parliaments; Poland Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:124-134 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Routine or Rare Activity? A Quantitative Assessment of Parliamentary Scrutiny in the European Semester File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4226 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4226 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 112-123 Author-Name: Ivana Skazlic Author-Workplace-Name: Salzburg Centre for European Union Studies, University of Salzburg, Austria / Research Group European Governance, Public Finance and Labor Markets, Institute for Advanced Studies, Austria Abstract: The European Semester is an EU procedure, designed to facilitate coordination between national and EU actors in planning and implementing economic and fiscal policies and contribute to sustained economic convergence and employment in the EU. Scholars have highlighted this procedure as a crucial area of EU politics for national parliaments since its introduction in 2011. However, national parliaments participate differently in the European Semester. This article investigates which factors (institutional, political, economic) are more likely to intensify parliamentary engagement at the national stage of the procedure, based on a comparative quantitative analysis of parliamentary scrutiny activities across 35 parliaments/chambers in the EU over the 2014–2017 period. The article offers new insights about prospects for greater parliamentary accountability in the European Semester in practice. Keywords: European Semester; national parliaments; parliamentary accountability; parliamentary scrutiny Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:112-123 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The European Semester and Parliamentary Oversight Institutions Inside and Outside of the Euro Area File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4129 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4129 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 100-111 Author-Name: Thomas Winzen Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Government, University of Essex, UK Abstract: The European Semester is a challenge for national parliaments but also an opportunity to reform domestic oversight institutions. Drawing on data from all member states, this study examines the conditions under which national parliaments use this opportunity. Is Euro area membership a prerequisite for parliamentary adaptation to the European Semester and, if so, which further combinations of conditions account for variation among Euro area countries? The analysis suggests that membership in or close ties with the Euro area and institutional strength constitute necessary conditions for parliamentary adaptation. Combined with other factors—in particular, public debt exceeding the Maastricht criteria—these conditions explain reform in many cases. National parliamentary adaptation to the European Semester thus follows existing institutional divisions constituted by differentiated integration in the Euro area and uneven national parliamentary strength. Keywords: differentiated integration; economic governance; European Semester; national parliaments Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:100-111 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Rising to a Challenge? Ten Years of Parliamentary Accountability of the European Semester File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4690 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4690 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 96-99 Author-Name: Tomasz P. Woźniakowski Author-Workplace-Name: Hertie School, Germany Author-Name: Aleksandra Maatsch Author-Workplace-Name: Willy Brandt Centre for German and European Studies, University of Wroclaw, Poland Author-Name: Eric Miklin Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Salzburg, Austria Abstract: As a result of the euro crisis, EU economic governance has been reformed and EU institutions have gained new competences regarding national budgets, with the European Semester (the annual cycle of economic surveillance of the member states) being the most prominent example. With the Commission and the Council being the main actors, and the European Parliament playing only a minor role, a debate about the democratic legitimacy of the Semester and the role of national parliaments (NPs) in this regard has unfolded. This thematic issue, therefore, addresses the question of how parliamentary accountability of the European Semester has evolved: Have NPs met the challenge by adapting to the new situation in a way that allows them to hold the executive accountable? While the contributions to this thematic issue show significant variation across NPs, overall they reveal a rather pessimistic picture: Despite several institutional innovations concerning the reforms of internal rules and procedures, the rise of independent fiscal institutions, inter-parliamentary cooperation, and hearings with the European Commissioners, NPs have remained rather weak actors in EU economic governance also ten years after the Semester’s introduction. Whether recent changes linked to the establishment of the Recovery and Resilience Facility introduced in response to the Covid-19 crisis will change the picture significantly remains to be examined. Keywords: accountability; EU Economic Governance; European Parliament; European Semester; European Union; national parliaments Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:96-99 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Agencies’ Reputational Game in an Evolving Environment: Europol and the European Parliament File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4161 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4161 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 85-95 Author-Name: Agathe Piquet Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for European Research, Queen Mary University of London, UK Abstract: With European Union agencies becoming increasingly significant actors in European governance, further research is needed to understand how they interact with their environment. Applying the ‘reputation’ literature to Europol, this article examines in greater detail how agencies behave with their ‘informal’ audiences in comparison with the formal ones. It demonstrates that agencies are deeply invested in the shaping of their reputation, including towards their informal audiences especially if the latter represent ‘reputational threats.’ Based on a quantitative analysis of activity reports and on a qualitative study of the face-to-face engagements of Europol with the European Parliament over time, this research sheds light on the complementary communicative strategies agencies can use to (re)present themselves depending on the dimension of their reputation at stake. Keywords: autonomy; EU agencies; European governance; Europol; reputation Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:85-95 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Detecting Looming Vetoes: Getting the European Parliament’s Consent in Trade Agreements File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4014 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4014 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 74-84 Author-Name: Marie Peffenköver Author-Workplace-Name: Independent Researcher, Belgium Author-Name: Johan Adriaensen Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University, The Netherlands Abstract: Since the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Parliament wields the power of consent over international (trade) agreements, enabling it to threaten a veto. Due to the extensive financial and reputational costs associated with a veto, the European Commission (hereinafter Commission) was expected to read these threats effectively. However, the Commission’s responses to such threats have varied greatly. Building on a fine-grained causal mechanism derived from information processing theory and an extensive process-tracing analysis of seven free trade agreements post-Lisbon, we explain why the Commission has responded differently to looming vetoes. Our analysis reveals that the variation in Commission responses derives from imperfections in its information-processing system, the ‘early-warning system,’ which had to be adapted to the new institutional equilibrium post-Lisbon. Because of this adaption process, factors exogenous to the parliamentary context (‘externalities’) as well as internal uncertainties (‘internalities’) add constant unpredictability to the Commission’s reading of the European Parliament. Keywords: EU trade policy; European Commission; European Parliament; information processing theory; trade agreements; veto Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:74-84 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The European Commission as a Policy Entrepreneur under the European Semester File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4102 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4102 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 63-73 Author-Name: Bernhard Zeilinger Author-Workplace-Name: University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna, Austria Abstract: This article discusses the impact that the reforms of the European Union’s economic governance since 2011 have had on the European Commission’s role as a policy entrepreneur. Particular attention is paid to mechanisms that are applied by the Commission to extend its scope beyond its given formal competences to shape national reform agendas. The research interest is based on the assumption that the Commission is a ‘competence-maximising rational actor’ (Pollack, 1997), whose primary organisational goals are to expand the scope of Community competence and increase the Commission’s own standing within the policy process. Accordingly, this research contributes to the scholarly debate by identifying mechanisms applied by the Commission under the European Semester to shape European and national reform agendas in areas of sovereign policymaking competences of the member states. Keywords: economic governance; European Commission; European Semester; policy entrepreneurship; soft law Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:63-73 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Crisis-Induced Leadership: Exploring the Role of the EU Commission in the EU–Jordan Compact File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4080 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4080 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 52-62 Author-Name: Karin Vaagland Author-Workplace-Name: FAFO―Institute for Labour and Social Research, Norway / Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Norway Abstract:The EU–Jordan Compact (hereafter Compact) has been identified as being a groundbreaking, comprehensive approach to global refugee protection. Thus far, research on this underexplored case has mainly focused on the effects of the Compact. The policy process leading to the adoption of the Compact, as well as the motivations of the EU (i.e., the main donor), remain blackboxed. This article explores how the migration crisis affected the EU Commission’s ability to create coordinated, strategic action in external policy. It does so by tracing the internal EU negotiations and developing a causal model that explains how the Commission could overcome silos and efficiently draft a policy proposal linking the issues of migration and trade. The analysis is based on 13 original in-depth interviews with EU representatives. The article contributes to crisisification theory by presenting a mechanism that explains how the Commission can make use of crises. The Commission created cohesion by reframing the crisis, identifying the relevant policy tools with which to address it, and by reframing the responsibilities of the relevant directorate-general. Furthermore, by utilizing the urgency of the crisis, the Commission enabled rapid policy drafting and created an explicit linkage between refugee policy and trade policy. This linkage provided the member states with the motivation to adopt the proposal as a solution to the ongoing migration crisis.
Keywords: crisis management; crisisification; European Union; foreign policy; international negotiation; Jordan; migration policy; refugee Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:52-62 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Why Defend Something I Don’t Agree with? Conflicts within the Commission and Legislative Amendments in Trilogues File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4154 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4154 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 40-51 Author-Name: Thomas Laloux Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science Louvain-Europe, UCLouvain, Belgium Author-Name: Lara Panning Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Bamberg, Germany Abstract: This article aims to examine the effect of intra-institutional conflicts in the European Commission on the extent of changes made to legislative proposals in trilogue negotiations. We develop and test three hypotheses related to how conflicts within the Commission, namely that intra-institutional disagreements during policy formulation (h1), and potential conflicts with previous (h2) or subsequent (h3) colleges of commissioners, increase the number of amendments to the Commission’s proposal adopted in trilogues. To test our hypotheses, we use a new dataset measuring the number of changes between Commission proposals and adopted legislation for 216 legislative acts negotiated between 2012 and 2019 by means of text-mining techniques. It is important to note that we control for differences between the Commission’s proposals and the co-legislators’ positions in order to distinguish between an effect on preferences anticipation and on the negotiations proper. Our results indicate that intra-institutional conflicts affect the Commission’s anticipation of the co-legislators’ positions. The effect on its behaviour in trilogues, that is, after the legislative proposal has been tabled, is less clear. Regarding the latter, only the number of Directorates-General involved is significantly linked with the number of amendments tabled. These findings suggest that while intra-institutional disagreements affect the Commission’s role in trilogues, the range of preferences is more important than the intensity of conflicts. Keywords: bargaining success; college; delegation; European Commission; intra-institutional conflicts; legislative decision-making; text-mining; trilogues Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:40-51 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Punching Below Its Weight: The Role of the European Parliament in Politicised Consultation Procedures File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4069 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4069 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 29-39 Author-Name: Maria Chiara Vinciguerra Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge, UK / Centre d’Etude de la Vie Politique (Cevipol), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Abstract: With Lisbon, the European Parliament formally acquired an equal standing to that of the Council of the EU in the making of policies in the AFSJ (area of freedom, security and justice). However, the growing political salience of policy issues at stake and bottom-up politicisation in the AFSJ has had the unintended effect of undermining the European Parliament’s internal unity even under consultation procedures. To show how this played out in practice during Europe’s migration and refugee crisis, this article analyses the European Parliament’s role, preferences, and bargaining position in the making of two Refugee Relocation Decisions (Council Decisions 2015/1523 and 2015/1601) under consultation procedure. To do so, this article exploits Putnam’s two-level framework (level I and II politics throughout the policy-making process) to explore early agenda-setting attempts and groups’ positions on issues of refugee relocation and burden-sharing, as they were formally stated in their position papers and expressed at the LIBE Committee and at plenary. This article shows that the high domestic salience and politicization of the issues at stake left MEPs torn between competing principals at home and within their European Parliament political groups and had the effect of weakening overall unity on the issue of refugee relocation. Keywords: area of freedom, security and justice; consultation procedure; European institutions; European Parliament; governance; migration crisis; policy-making; power; preference formation; two-level game Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:29-39 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: For Farmers or the Environment? The European Parliament in the 2013 CAP Reform File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4033 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4033 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 16-28 Author-Name: Viviane Gravey Author-Workplace-Name: School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, Queen’s University Belfast, UK Author-Name: Aron Buzogány Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Forest, Environmental and Natural Resource Policy, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria Abstract: The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was the last policy field to be placed under the Ordinary Legislative Procedure and its 2013 reform was the first to be decided under this rule. This article analyses how rule changes following the Lisbon Treaty have shaped policy outcomes related to ‘greening,’ i.e., making agricultural policy more environmentally friendly. Measuring the policy ambitions of amendments during the different phases of the legislative process (the processing phase within the Parliament and the negotiating phase during trilogues), we find that the European Parliament weakened the Commission’s greening proposals—but did so to support an alternative greening agenda built on different policy instruments. This means that rule change has altered the power balance between the institutions, making the Commission more dependent on the European Parliament. In the 2013 reform, this new balance of power came at the cost of greening the CAP. Keywords: Common Agricultural Policy; European Parliament; environment; greening; Lisbon Treaty; policy ambition Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:16-28 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: A New Research Agenda: How European Institutions Influence Law-Making in Justice and Home Affairs File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4081 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4081 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 5-15 Author-Name: Angela Tacea Author-Workplace-Name: FWO—Research Foundation Flanders, Institute for European Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium Abstract: The article presents a dataset on the legislative procedure in European Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) and a new method of data processeing. The dataset contains information on 529 procedures proposed between January 1998 and December 2017. For each of the legislative proposals, the dataset identifies the main elements of the legislative procedure (e.g., dates, types of procedure, directory codes and subcodes, actors, voting results, amendments, legal basis, etc.) and the changes introduced at each step of the legislative process from the text proposed by the European Commission to the final version published in the Official Journal of the European Union. This information has been gathered using text mining techniques. The dataset is relevant for a broad range of research questions regarding the EU decision-making process in JHA related to the balance of powers between European institutional actors and their capacity to influence the legislative outputs. Keywords: dataset; justice and home affairs; legislative procedure; text mining Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:5-15 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Resilient Institutions: The Impact of Rule Change on Policy Outputs in European Union Decision-Making Processes File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4710 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i3.4710 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 3 Pages: 1-4 Author-Name: Ariadna Ripoll Servent Author-Workplace-Name: Salzburg Centre of European Union Studies, University of Salzburg, Austria Author-Name: Angela Tacea Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for European Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium Abstract: The evolution of the inter-institutional balance of powers has been a constant feature of the European integration process. Therefore, this thematic issue reopens these theoretical and empirical discussions by looking at an underexploited angle of research, namely the impact of rule change on policy outputs. We offer a discussion on how to theorise rule change, actors’ behaviour, and their impact on policy outputs. We also examine the links between theory and methods, noting the strengths and weaknesses of different methods for the study of institutional and policy change. We draw on the contributions of this thematic issue to delineate further paths to push forward the current frontiers in EU decision-making research. Keywords: decision-making; EU institutions; European Union; policy analysis; policy change; rule change Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:3:p:1-4 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Policy Assemblages and Policy Resilience: Lessons for Non-Design from Evolutionary Governance Theory File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4170 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.4170 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 451-459 Author-Name: Kris Hartley Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Asian and Policy Studies, Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong S.A.R. Author-Name: Michael Howlett Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Simon Fraser University, Canada Abstract: Evolutionary governance theory (EGT) provides a basis for holistically analyzing the shifting contexts and dynamics of policymaking in settings with functional differentiation and complex subsystems. Policy assemblages, as mixes of policy tools and goals, are an appropriate unit of analysis for EGT because they embody the theory’s emphasis on co-evolving elements within policy systems. In rational practice, policymakers design policies within assemblages by establishing objectives, collecting information, comparing options, strategizing implementation, and selecting instruments. However, as EGT implies, this logical progression does not always materialize so tidily—some policies emerge from carefully considered blueprints while others evolve from muddled processes, laissez faire happenstance, or happy accident. Products of the latter often include loosely steered, unmoored, and ‘non-designed’ path dependencies that confound linear logic and are understudied in the policy literature. There exists the need for a more intricate analytical vocabulary to describe this underexplored ‘chaotic’ end of the policy design spectrum, as conjuring images of ‘muddles’ or ‘messes’ has exhausted its usefulness. This article introduces a novel metaphor for non-design—the bird nest—to bring studies of policy design and non-design into lexical harmony. Keywords: Evolutionary Governance Theory; policy assemblages; policy design; policy instruments; policy metaphors; policy mixes; policy non-design; public policy Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:451-459 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Mitigating Pro-Poor Housing Failures: Access Theory and the Politics of Urban Governance File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4113 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.4113 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 439-450 Author-Name: Katja Mielke Author-Workplace-Name: Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC), Germany Author-Name: Helena Cermeño Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Urban Sociology, University of Kassel, Germany Abstract: Looking at evolving urban governance and planning practices in the city of Lahore, Pakistan, the article aims to understand—from an Evolutionary Governance Theory perspective—to what extent these practices steer paths and modes of service provision and housing for low-income residents. With a focus on the endurance and transformations of urban governance practices and institutions, we first explore the influence of the changing development discourse and the impact it has had on the (re)configuration of urban governance and housing policies in Lahore. Second, drawing on extensive fieldwork and empirical data collected between 2012 and 2016, we highlight three vignettes depicting the development of different housing options for low-income residents in Lahore, i.e., a government-steered subsidised housing scheme, a privately developed ‘pro-poor’ settlement in the peri-urban fringe of the city, and residential colonies already—or in the process of being—regularised. By analysing the relationship between governance frameworks, the establishment of the three types of settlements and how residents manage to access housing and services there, we demonstrate how purposive deregulation in governance and policy generates a disconnect between urban normative frameworks (i.e., urban planning tools and pro-poor housing policies) and residents’ needs and everyday practices. We argue that this highly political process is not exclusively path-dependent but has also allowed the creation of liminal spaces based on agency and collective action strategies of low-income residents. Keywords: access theory; evolutionary governance theory; Lahore; low-income housing; Pakistan; planning; power; pro-poor housing; steering; urban politics Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:439-450 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: What Is the Role of the Government in Wildlife Policy? Evolutionary Governance Perspective File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4106 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.4106 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 428-438 Author-Name: Krzysztof Niedziałkowski Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland / Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland Author-Name: Renata Putkowska-Smoter Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland / Faculty of Sociology and Education, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland Abstract: With the growing populations and range of large wild mammals in Europe, wildlife governance has grown in importance and provoked social conflicts, pressuring policy-makers to provide adequate policy responses. Some countries chose decentralised approaches, while others retain traditional top-down mechanisms. However, evolutionary mechanisms behind those changes and their impact on steering have attracted relatively little attention. We investigated the evolution of the governance of three wildlife species (European bison, moose, and wolf) in Poland (1945–2020) to map their existing paths and explore external and internal factors influencing steering patterns. The results suggest that despite the persistent dominance of state-centred governance and top-down hierarchical instruments characteristic for a post-socialist country, steering involved intense and often informal communication with influential actors. A growing diversity of actors and discourses in wildlife governance increased the state’s steering options and improved conservation outcomes. Concurrently, the government’s steering shifted from concrete policy results to managing tensions and interests within the field. These transformations helped to retain the effectiveness of steering in the changing context, while retaining state-dominated governance. Keywords: carnivore conservation; environmental policy; institutional change; organisational theory; policy analysis; ungulate management Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:428-438 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Strategy and Steering in Governance: The Changing Fates of the Argentine Planning Council File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4089 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.4089 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 415-427 Author-Name: Rodrigo Alves Rolo Author-Workplace-Name: National Institute of Agricultural Technology, Argentina Author-Name: Kristof Van Assche Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Canada Author-Name: Martijn Duineveld Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, The Netherlands Abstract: Based on a detailed study of the return of national-level planning in Argentina as embodied by COFEPLAN, the national planning council, we develop a conceptual framework to analyse the possibilities and limits of steering in governance. We lean on the theoretical apparatus of evolutionary governance theory and use the concepts of goal dependency, interdependency, path dependency and material dependency (effects in governance) to analyse the reality effects of strategy (effects of governance). Methodologically, our study relies on archival work and semi-structured interviews with planning scholars and public officials from different levels of government. We show that, although material and discursive reality effects were abundant in the evolution of Argentine planning policies, dependencies and discontinuities undermined both the central steering ambitions of the government and the innovative potential of the new planning schemes. The dramatic history of the Argentine planning system allows us to grasp the nature of dependencies in a new way. Shocks in general undermine long-term perspectives and higher-level planning, but they can also create windows of opportunity. The internal complexity and the persistence of Peronist ideology in Argentina can account for the revivals of national-level planning, in very different ideological contexts, but the recurring shocks, the stubborn difference between rhetoric and reality, the reliance on informality, created a landscape of fragmented governance and often weak institutional capacity. In that landscape, steering through national-level planning becomes a tall order. Keywords: Argentina; COFEPLAN; goal dependency; governance; performativity; policy implementation; reality effects; strategic planning Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:415-427 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Social Investment Policies in the EU: Actively Concrete or Passively Abstract? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4079 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.4079 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 403-414 Author-Name: Gaby Umbach Author-Workplace-Name: Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Italy Author-Name: Igor Tkalec Author-Workplace-Name: Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Italy Abstract: Against the historical-conceptual background of EU social policy and evolutionary governance, this article analyses the approach with which the EU propagates social investment policies. Social investment, understood as an active rather than passive way of social protection, has become a salient instrument for reinvigorating the EU’s social dimension, especially in the aftermath of the sovereign debt crisis. By means of a large-scale document analysis, we develop four EU social investment propagation approaches (reference, objective, tool, and action) according to how active (passive) and concrete (abstract) the EU’s intervention in social investment is. The results show that the EU mainly propagates social investment with an active approach, i.e., policy recommendations targeted at national governments. In terms of substance, the EU’s treatment of social investment is based on labour activation policies backed by skills development and job search support policies, which is consistent with the main purpose of social investment. Keywords: co-evolutionary governance; EU social policy; labour market activation; social investment Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:403-414 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Irritation Design: Updating Steering Theory in the Age of Governance File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4075 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.4075 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 393-402 Author-Name: Marc Mölders Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Sociology, Bielefeld University, Germany Abstract: Is steering still a viable concept? The article answers this question with a conditional yes. On the one hand, its conceptual core remains intact. Getting others—who are considered to be idiosyncratic—to solve rather than pose societal problems is no less relevant for recent governance analyses. On the other, steering as a concept needs some updates in terms of subjects, objects, and ways of steering. Beyond merely extending the list of possible subjects and objects of steering, the concept of irritation design is proposed. It stresses that making communication hard to ignore can be a matter of design. Modern society seems to be crowded with steering entities, many of which displaying smart irritation designs. This leads to complex constellations. Yet it remains valuable to analyze strategies of influence because despite all dynamics and happenstance, different chances of impact correlate with different irritation design. Still, we have to account for two aspects: 1) Capacities (beyond money or power) needed for designing irritations are unequally distributed; 2) material effects and empirical boundaries have their share in a decreased ignorability. Keywords: communication; control; environment; functional differentiation; governance; irritation; responsivity; steering; translation Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:393-402 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Economic Transitions in South Africa’s Secondary Cities: Governing Mine Closures File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4032 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.4032 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 381-392 Author-Name: Lochner Marais Author-Workplace-Name: Sustainable Minerals Institute, University of Queensland, Australia / Centre for Development Support, University of the Free State, South Africa Author-Name: Verna Nel Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of the Free State, South Africa Author-Name: Kholisa Rani Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for Development Support, University of the Free State, South Africa Author-Name: Deidré van Rooyen Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for Development Support, University of the Free State, South Africa Author-Name: Kentse Sesele Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for Development Support, University of the Free State, South Africa Author-Name: Phia van der Watt Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for Development Support, University of the Free State, South Africa Author-Name: Lyndon du Plessis Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Public Administration and Management, University of the Free State, South Africa Abstract: Many South African secondary cities depend on a single economic sector, often mining or manufacturing. This makes them vulnerable to economic change and national decision-making. We describe change in three secondary cities—Emalahleni, Matjhabeng and Newcastle—all at different phases of economic transition due to imminent mine closure. We investigate the way local governance and planning are dealing with the change. We draw on concepts from institutional economics and evolutionary governance theory, material from strategic planning documents, and approximately 50 key informant interviews. We show how difficult it is to steer economic planning during economic transitions, and we demonstrate how both economic change and governance are path-dependent. Path dependency in South Africa’s mining towns has several causes: the colonial influence, which emphasised extraction and neglected beneficiation; the dominance of a single sector; the long-term problems created by mining; and the lack of the skills needed to bring about economic change. The local governments’ continuing reliance on the New Public Management paradigm, which focuses on steering as opposed to building networks, compounds the problem, along with poor governance, inadequate local capacity and inappropriate intergovernmental relations. Of the three towns, only Newcastle has shown signs of taking a new path. Keywords: economic transition; path dependency; secondary city; steering; New Public Management; mine closure Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:381-392 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Steering as Path Creation: Leadership and the Art of Managing Dependencies and Reality Effects File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4027 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.4027 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 369-380 Author-Name: Kristof Van Assche Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Canada Author-Name: Martijn Duineveld Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Monica Gruezmacher Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Canada Author-Name: Raoul Beunen Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Science, Open University, The Netherlands Abstract: We develop a perspective on steering in governance which understands steering as intended path creation. Inspired by evolutionary governance theory, critical management studies and social systems theory, we argue that steering is shaped and limited by co-evolutions, disallowing for any formulaic approach. In order to illuminate the space for steering in governance, we analyze the interplay between different dependencies. Those dependencies are not just obstacles to path creation, they can also be pointers and assets. The steering discussion is further complicated by always unique sets of couplings between a governance system and its environment. After introducing the ideas of reality effects and governance strategy, we further develop our concept of steering and present it as the management of dependencies (in governance) and reality effects (outside governance) towards path creation. This management is ideally strategic in nature and requires leadership in a new role. Keywords: dependencies; governance; leadership; path creation; reality effect; steering Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:369-380 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Steering in Governance: Evolutionary Perspectives File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4489 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.4489 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 365-368 Author-Name: Raoul Beunen Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Science, Open University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Kristof Van Assche Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Canada Abstract: Steering has negative connotations nowadays in many discussions on governance, policy, politics and planning. The associations with the modernist state project linger on. At the same time, a rethinking of what is possible by means of policy and planning, what is possible through governance, which forms of change and which pursuits of common goods still make sense, in an era of cynicism about steering yet also high steering expectations, seems eminently useful. Between laissez faire and blue-print planning are many paths which can be walked. In this thematic issue, we highlight the value of evolutionary understandings of governance and of governance in society, in order to grasp which self-transformations of governance systems are more likely than others and which governance tools and ideas stand a better chance than others in a particular context. We pay particular attention to Evolutionary Governance Theory (EGT) as a perspective on governance which delineates steering options as stemming from a set of co-evolutions in governance. Understanding steering options requires, for EGT, path mapping of unique governance paths, as well as context mapping, the external contexts relevant for the mode of reproduction of the governance system in case. A rethinking of steering in governance, through the lens of EGT, can shed a light on governance for innovation, sustainability transitions, new forms of participation and self-organization. For EGT, co-evolutions and dependencies, not only limit but also shape possibilities of steering, per path and per domain of governance and policy. Keywords: Evolutionary Governance Theory; governance; planning; policy change; steering Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:365-368 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Lessons from the Use of Ranked Choice Voting in American Presidential Primaries File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3960 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3960 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 354-364 Author-Name: Rob Richie Author-Workplace-Name: FairVote, USA Author-Name: Benjamin Oestericher Author-Workplace-Name: FairVote, USA Author-Name: Deb Otis Author-Workplace-Name: FairVote, USA Author-Name: Jeremy Seitz-Brown Author-Workplace-Name: FairVote, USA Abstract: Grounded in experience in 2020, both major political parties have reasons to expand use of ranked choice voting (RCV) in their 2024 presidential primaries. RCV may offer a ‘win-win’ solution benefiting both the parties and their voters. RCV would build on both the pre-1968 American tradition of parties determining a coalitional presidential nominee through multiple ballots at party conventions and the modern practice of allowing voters to effectively choose their nominees in primaries. Increasingly used by parties around the world in picking their leaders, RCV may allow voters to crowd-source a coalitional nominee. Most published research about RCV focuses on state and local elections. In contrast, this article analyzes the impact on voters, candidates, and parties from five state Democratic parties using RCV in party-run presidential nomination contests in 2020. First, it uses polls and results to examine how more widespread use of RCV might have affected the trajectory of contests for the 2016 Republican nomination. Second, it contrasts how more than three million voters in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries backed withdrawn candidates with the low rate of such wasted votes for withdrawn candidates in the states with RCV ballots. Finally, it concludes with an examination of how RCV might best interact with the parties’ current rules and potential changes to those rules. Keywords: electoral reform; instant runoff; presidential primaries; ranked choice voting Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:354-364 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Variants of Ranked-Choice Voting from a Strategic Perspective File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3955 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3955 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 344-353 Author-Name: Jack Santucci Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Politics, Drexel University, USA Abstract: Ranked-choice voting has come to mean a range of electoral systems. Broadly, they can facilitate (a) majority winners in single-seat districts, (b) majority rule with minority representation in multi-seat districts, or (c) majority sweeps in multi-seat districts. Further, such systems can combine with rules to encourage/discourage slate voting. This article describes five major versions used, abandoned, and/or proposed for US public elections: alternative vote, single transferable vote, block-preferential voting, the bottoms-up system, and alternative vote with numbered posts. It then considers each from the perspective of a ‘political strategist.’ Simple models of voting (one with two parties, another with three) draw attention to real-world strategic issues: effects on minority representation, importance of party cues, and reasons for the political strategist to care about how voters rank choices. Unsurprisingly, different rules produce different outcomes with the same sets of ballots. Specific problems from the strategist’s perspective are: ‘majority reversal,’ serving ‘two masters,’ and undisciplined third-party voters (or ‘pure’ independents). Some of these stem from well-known phenomena, e.g., ranking truncation and ‘vote leakage.’ The article also alludes to ‘vote-management’ tactics, i.e., rationing nominations and ensuring even distributions of first-choice votes. Illustrative examples come from American history and comparative politics. A running theme is the two-pronged failure of the Progressive Era reform wave: with respect to minority representation, then ranked voting's durability. Keywords: alternative vote; ballot exhaustion; block-preferential voting; bottoms-up system; exhaustive-preferential system; instant runoff voting; ranked-choice voting; open-list proportional representation; single transferable vote; strategic coordination Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:344-353 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Election Reform and Women’s Representation: Ranked Choice Voting in the U.S. File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3924 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3924 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 332-343 Author-Name: Cynthia Richie Terrell Author-Workplace-Name: RepresentWomen, USA Author-Name: Courtney Lamendola Author-Workplace-Name: RepresentWomen, USA Author-Name: Maura Reilly Author-Workplace-Name: RepresentWomen, USA Abstract: Ranked choice voting first gained a foothold in the U.S. during the Progressive Movement in the 20th century as calls for electoral reforms grew. Ranked choice voting was implemented in many cities across the U.S. in both single- and multi-seat districts. But, by the 1940s it became a victim of its own success, turning the tides of the hegemonic white male leadership in U.S. legislative bodies with the election of women. Since the 1990s, ranked choice voting has once again gained traction in the U.S., this time with the focus on implementing single seat ranked choice voting. This article will build on the existing literature by filling in the gaps on how ranked choice voting—in both forms—has impacted women’s representation both historically and in currently elected bodies in the U.S. Keywords: descriptive representation; electoral reform; fair representation voting; progressive movement; proportional representation; ranked choice voting; single transferable vote; women’s representation Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:332-343 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Ranked Choice Voting and Youth Voter Turnout: The Roles of Campaign Civility and Candidate Contact File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3914 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3914 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 319-331 Author-Name: Courtney L. Juelich Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Stout, USA Author-Name: Joseph A. Coll Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Iowa, USA Abstract: Ranked choice voting (RCV) has become increasing popular in the United States as more cities and states begin allowing voters to rank candidates in order of preference. This change in election system has been linked to increased campaign civility and mobilization, but with little evidence suggesting these benefits lead to increased voter turnout in the general population. This study argues that RCV elections may not increase overall voting but will increase youth voting. Considering young Americans, who have become increasingly pessimistic towards politics and are also heavily reliant on mobilization for participation, this study argues that increased campaign civility and mobilization may work to offset the negative feelings and lack of political engagement that plague young Americans. Using a matched study of individual level voter turnout for seven RCV and fourteen non-RCV local elections from 2013 and 2014, we find that there is no statistical difference in voting rates between RCV and plurality cities for the general public. Yet, in line with our hypotheses, younger voters are more likely to vote in RCV cities. Further, we find that increased contact in RCV elections accounts for a larger portion of the increased voter turnout compared to perceptions of campaign civility. Findings suggest RCV acts as a positive mobilizing force for youth voting through increasing campaign contact. Keywords: campaign civility; mobilization; ranked choice voting; voter turnout; youth voting Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:319-331 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Impact of Input Rules and Ballot Options on Voting Error: An Experimental Analysis File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3938 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3938 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 306-318 Author-Name: J. S. Maloy Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Louisiana, USA Author-Name: Matthew Ward Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Louisiana, USA Abstract: When election reforms such as Ranked Choice Voting or the Alternative Vote are proposed to replace plurality voting, they offer lengthier instructions, more opportunities for political expression, and more opportunities for mistakes on the ballot. Observational studies of voting error rely on ecological inference from geographically aggregated data. Here we use an experimental approach instead, to examine the effect of two different ballot conditions at the individual level of analysis: the input rules that the voter must use and the number of ballot options presented for the voter’s choice. This experiment randomly assigned three different input rules (single-mark, ranking, and grading) and two different candidate lists (with six and eight candidates) to over 6,000 online respondents in the USA, during the American presidential primary elections in 2020, simulating a single-winner presidential election. With more expressive input rules (ranking and grading), the distinction between minor mistakes and totally invalid votes—a distinction inapplicable to single‐mark ballots (1MB) voting—assumes new importance. Regression analysis indicates that more complicated input rules and more candidates on the ballot did not raise the probability that a voter would cast a void (uncountable) vote, despite raising the probability of at least one violation of voting instructions. Keywords: American politics; election administration; election reform; Ranked Choice Voting; voting behavior; voting experiments Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:306-318 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Demographic Disparities Using Ranked-Choice Voting? Ranking Difficulty, Under-Voting, and the 2020 Democratic Primary File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3913 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3913 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 293-305 Author-Name: Joseph A. Coll Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Iowa, USA Abstract: Ranked choice voting (RCV) has become increasingly popular in recent years, as more jurisdictions in the US adopt the voting system for local, state, and federal elections. Though previous studies have found potential benefits of RCV, some evidence suggests ranking multiple candidates instead of choosing one most preferred candidate may be difficult, with potential demographic disparities linked to age, gender, or racial or ethnic identity. Further, these difficulties have been assumed to cause individuals to improperly fill out RCV ballots, such as ranking too many or not enough candidates. This study seeks to answer three interrelated questions: 1) Which demographic groups find it difficult to rank candidates in RCV elections? 2) Who is more likely to cast under-voted ballots (not ranking all candidates)? 3) Is there a relationship between finding RCV voting difficult and the likelihood of casting an under-voted ballot? Using unique national survey data of 2020 Democratic primary candidate preferences, the results indicate most respondents find ranking candidates easy, but older, less interested, and more ideologically conservative individuals find it more difficult. In a hypothetical ranking of primary candidates, 12% of respondents under-voted (did not rank all options). Despite their perceived increased difficulty, older individuals were less likely to under-vote their ballot. No other demographic groups consistently experienced systematic differences in ranking difficulty or under-voting across a series of model specifications. These findings support previous evidence of older voters having increased difficulty, but challenge research assuming difficulty leads to under-voting, and that racial and ethnic groups are disadvantaged by RCV. Keywords: Democratic primaries; elections; electoral systems; ethnic; race; ranked choice voting; United States of America Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:293-305 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Using Campaign Communications to Analyze Civility in Ranked Choice Voting Elections File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4293 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.4293 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 280-292 Author-Name: Martha Kropf Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of North Carolina – Charlotte, USA Abstract: Theory suggests that ranked choice voting (RCV) may create a more civil campaign environment. As voters must rank candidates, the candidates have an incentive to work with each other more collaboratively. This study uses text analysis software (LIWC) to examine candidate tweets and newspaper articles in RCV versus specifically-chosen plurality cities for evidence of positivity or negativity. In quantitatively comparing the tweets, the results are mixed among the cities. Qualitatively, candidates seem to be more likely to engage each other in RCV cities than in plurality cities. Using LIWC to analyze newspaper articles for campaign tone, one can see that RCV city articles have significantly more positive than negative words. This is the first published study to use direct campaign communication data to study RCV elections and campaign civility. This research validates survey research indicating that citizens perceive RCV campaigns are more civil. Keywords: civility; content analysis; Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count; ranked choice voting; sentiment analysis; text analysis; Twitter Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:280-292 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Ranked Choice Voting in Australia and America: Do Voters Follow Party Cues? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3889 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3889 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 271-279 Author-Name: Benjamin Reilly Author-Workplace-Name: School of Social Sciences, University of Western Australia, Australia Abstract: Ranked choice voting (RCV) is experiencing a surge of interest in the United States, highlighted by its 2018 use for Congressional elections in Maine, the first application of a ranked ballot for national-level elections in American history. A century ago, the same system was introduced in another federal, two-party continental-sized democracy: Australia. RCV’s utility as a solution to inter-party coordination problems helps to explain its appeal in both countries, underscoring the potential benefits of a comparative analytical approach. This article examines this history of adoption and then turns to a comparison of recent RCV elections in Maine with state elections in New South Wales and Queensland, the two Australian states which share the same form of RCV as that used in the United States. This comparison shows how candidate and party endorsements influence voters’ rankings and can, over time, promote reciprocal exchanges between parties and broader systemic support for RCV. Such cross-partisan support helps explain the stability of RCV in Australia, with implications for the system’s prospects in the United States. Keywords: Australia; democracy; elections; electoral system; preferential voting; ranked choice voting; United States of America Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:271-279 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Editor’s Introduction: The Promise and Peril of Ranked Choice Voting File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4385 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.4385 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 265-270 Author-Name: Caroline J. Tolbert Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Iowa, USA Author-Name: Daria Kuznetsova Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University of Iowa, USA Abstract: Dissatisfaction with two-party politics is at an all-time high in the US. As extreme polarization and minority rule persist, a possibility of an electoral reform becomes increasingly more likely. This editor’s introduction discusses the ranked choice voting (RCV) as an alternative to the current single-member geographic districts with winner-take-all plurality elections in the US. The articles for this thematic issue critically evaluate whether RCV lives up to its promise in improving democracy in the US. Like any rule or institutional change, it has benefits and drawbacks. The empirical and historical research presented here focuses on the implementation and use of RCV in the US compared to other countries. This thematic issue offers new insights into the promise and perils of RCV as a way to aggregate votes in elections that ensure that the winning candidate receives a majority of the votes cast. Keywords: alternative vote; electoral system; democracy; multipartism; plurality elections; polarization; proportional representation; ranked choice voting; single transferable vote; two-party system Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:265-270 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Covid-19: A Different Economic Crisis but the Same Paradigm of Democratic Deficit in the EU File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3923 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3923 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 252-264 Author-Name: Dina Sebastião Author-Workplace-Name: CEIS20—Centre of Interdisciplinary Studies, Portugal / Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Coimbra, Portugal Abstract: Based on a normative orientation and an interdisciplinary perspective, this is a comparative study, using the process tracing methodology, between the EU responses to Eurozone and Covid-19 crises to assess if, despite different outcomes, institutional decision-making processes evidence a change. The study concluded that the EU democratic deficit remains, which assumes special features in economic crises, providing a political oversize power to the economically hegemonic states, thus constraining ideological debate and making national interest prevail over politicisation. This perpetuates the conversion of structural economic positions into political power at the expense of political representative power and democracy. Keywords: democratic deficit; Covid-19; EMU governance; Eurozone crisis Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:252-264 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The European Central Bank and the German Constitutional Court: Police Patrols and Fire Alarms File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3888 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3888 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 241-251 Author-Name: Clément Fontan Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science Louvain-Europe, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium Author-Name: David Howarth Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences, Institute of Political Science, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Abstract: In May 2020, a ruling of the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) questioned the legality of the Bundesbank’s participation in the European Central Bank’s (ECB’s) Public Sector Purchase Programme. Applying elements of a principal-agent analysis, this article analyses how the FCC ruling presents us with a new understanding of the relationship between the ECB, other EU institutions and Eurozone member states. Existing principal-agent analyses of the ECB focus upon its relations with other EU-level institutions and point to the limited ex ante control mechanisms and efforts to reinforce ex post control mechanisms—notably European Parliament oversight. The FCC ruling and the ECB’s reaction demonstrate the relative importance of national level controls over the ECB agent. This article understands the role of private plaintiffs in Germany as a form of ‘fire alarm’ on ECB policymaking against the background of weak ex post controls at the EU-level. Keywords: accountability; Bundesbank; Bundestag; Court of Justice of the European Union; European Central Bank; European Parliament; German Federal Constitutional Court; monetary policy; ordo-liberalism; principal-agent analysis Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:241-251 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: German Politics and Intergovernmental Negotiations on the Eurozone Budget File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3928 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3928 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 230-240 Author-Name: Shawn Donnelly Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Public Administration, University of Twente, The Netherlands Abstract: This article examines selected political party positions on a Eurozone budget and fiscal transfers between 2018 and 2021. It posits that German government positions on common European debt and fiscal policy have undergone a significant but fragile shift. It must contend with continued domestic hostility before it can be said to be a lasting realignment. A great deal with depend less on the Social Democratic Party that is largely responsible for bringing it about with the support of German Greens, and more on the willingness of the Christian Democratic Union, their Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union and the German voting public to adopt a more interventionist fiscal policy as well, generating shared commitments to economic policy at home and in Europe. That has not happened yet. Keywords: competitiveness; Economic and Monetary Union; European Stability Mechanism; European Union; Eurozone budget; fiscal union; Germany; public finance Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:230-240 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Scrutiny or Complacency? Banking Union in the Bundestag and the Assemblée Nationale File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3919 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3919 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 219-229 Author-Name: Anna-Lena Högenauer Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Abstract: The financial and eurozone crises highlighted the inadequacy of the original governance structures of the eurozone. In response, a range of reforms were launched, including the creation of a European banking union. In practice, some elements of the banking union were delayed by division among member states and the breakdown of the Franco-German motor, such as the question of the operationalization of the single resolution mechanism and fund or the deposit insurance scheme. In addition, eurozone governance—which would once have been regarded as a technocratic issue—became increasingly politicized. The aim of this article is to study the extent to which the banking union was scrutinized by parliament and to what degree this reflects material interests and ideas. For this purpose, it focuses on salience (i.e., how much attention the issue received) and polarization (i.e., the divergence of positions). The analysis of the resolutions and debates of the German Bundestag and French Assemblée Nationale, i.e., the parliaments of two key states in EU decision-making on banking union, finds that the German government was indeed closely scrutinized, whereas the French government was relatively unconstrained. Keywords: banking union; European deposit insurance scheme; France; Germany; parliament; single resolution fund; single resolution mechanism; single supervisory mechanism Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:219-229 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: European Financial Governance: FTT Reform, Controversies and Governments’ Responsiveness File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3935 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3935 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 208-218 Author-Name: Aukje van Loon Author-Workplace-Name: Chair of International Politics, Faculty of Social Science, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany Abstract: The Eurozone crisis exposed the incompleteness of the Economic and Monetary Union’s governance framework thereby prompting the promotion of a multitude of reform packages and proposals. This simultaneously induced conflict among EU governments on both design and content of such reforms. In case of the financial transaction tax (FTT) proposal, which failed to garner consensus among member governments, it illustrates Ireland’s disapproval clashing with favorable German and French stances. While these governments aligned on the necessity to reform, the process of harmonizing EU financial governance proved rather difficult. In analyzing governments’ variation of reform support or opposition, the societal approach to governmental preference formation is employed. This is considerably conducive in directing academic attention to the role of two explanatory variables, domestic material interests and value-based ideas, in shaping governments’ reform positions. This article encompasses a comprehensive comparative account of domestic preference formation and responsiveness of three EU governments (France, Germany and Ireland), in the case study of the FTT, and demonstrates that the two societal dynamics are prone to have played a role in shaping financial reform controversies. By building on and contributing to Eurozone crisis literature, this approach seems appropriate in analyzing financial governance reform due to the crisis’ domestic impact resulting in increased public salience, issue politicization and an advanced role of elected politicians. Keywords: domestic politics; financial regulation; financial transaction tax; France; Germany; government preferences; Ireland; political argumentation Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:208-218 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: ‘Don’t Crunch My Credit’: Member State Governments’ Preferences on Bank Capital Requirements File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3884 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3884 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 196-207 Author-Name: Sébastien Commain Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Abstract: Across Europe, banks remain, to this day, the main suppliers of finance to the European economy, but also a source of systemic risk. As such, regulating them requires that policymakers find an appropriate balance between restricting their risk-taking behaviour and increasing lending to support economic growth. However, the ‘varieties of financial capitalism’ that characterize national banking sectors in Europe mean that the adoption of harmonised capital requirements has different effects across countries, depending on the country-specific institutional setting through which banks provide lending to the national economy. This article conducts a new analysis of Member State governments’ positions in the post-financial crisis reform of the EU capital requirements legislation, expanding the scope of previous studies on the topic. Here, I examine in detail the positions of Member States on a wider set of issues and for a broader set of countries than the existing literature. Building on the varieties of financial capitalism approach, I explain these positions with regard to structural features of national banking sectors. I find that Member State governments’ positions reveal a general agreement with the proposed increase of bank capital requirements, while seeking targeted exemptions and preferential treatment that they deem necessary to preserve their domestic supply of retail credit. Keywords: banking regulation; Basel III; Capital Requirements Directive; Capital Requirements Regulation; financial capitalism; financial crisis Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:196-207 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The European Investment Bank’s ‘Quantum Leap’ to Become the World’s First International Climate Bank File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3921 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3921 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 185-195 Author-Name: Helen Kavvadia Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Abstract: In November 2019, the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced its ‘metamorphosis’ into a ‘Climate Bank.’ Associated with the EU’s Green Deal, presented a month later, the EIB claimed to be the first international climate bank and a front runner in the EU’s priority climate agenda. The EIB is mandated through the treaties to support EU policymakers. However, with its ‘makeover,’ the EIB also announced the launch of a new climate strategy and energy lending policy, ending fossil fuel financing after 2021. It is thus valuable to examine the question of whether the EIB has developed into a policymaker, and if so, how this can be best understood. In exploring this question, this article follows a principal-agent approach, attempting to discern the rational interests behind organisational rhetoric and posits that the EIB’s claimed transformation hints at a type of policymaking activism, exploiting a policy window to serve the EIB’s rational interests in a strained political and market contest. This represents a paradigm shift in the EIB’s institutional behaviour and rhetoric within the EU governance constellation and is, in fact, in this sense a ‘quantum leap’ as suggested by the EIB. However, it remains to be seen if the bank’s metrics will prove a bold departure from their current activity or simply another adaptation to a policy field of intense interest to the EU, as has occurred on several occasions in the past. Keywords: climate change; climate finance; European governance; European Green Deal; European Investment Bank; European Union Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:185-195 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Tug of War over Financial Assistance: Which Way Forward for Eurozone Stability Mechanisms? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3887 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3887 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 173-184 Author-Name: Moritz Rehm Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Science, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Abstract: This article analyses the development of financial assistance in the Eurozone since 2010. It argues that reforms to instruments and bodies, notably the European Financial Stability Facility, the European Stability Mechanism, and the current Covid-19 recovery fund, are best explained by a re-occurring pattern of negotiations between potential creditors and debtors based on common Eurozone interests and national cost-benefit considerations. Building on a liberal intergovernmentalist approach, this article shows how this pattern influenced the step-by-step reform of financial assistance in the Eurozone. The threat to Eurozone stability served as a constant factor encouraging member states to expand and deepen the assistance formula. Creditors’ cost-benefit considerations were key for retaining disincentives, a limited liability for common debt, and intermediary borrowing and lending within the financing design. However, on the back of common Eurozone interests, debtors were able to push for an increase in assistance, an expansion of assistance into areas of banking sector support, and a softening of moral hazard elements in the more recent Covid-19 pandemic. Due to creditors’ continuous insistence on safeguards and limited burden-sharing, reform outcomes were repeatedly unable to resolve the difficulties at hand. Keywords: Covid-19; Euro crisis; European Financial Stability Facility; European Stability Mechanism; European Union; Eurozone; financial assistance; liberal intergovernmentalism Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:173-184 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Avoiding the Inappropriate: The European Commission and Sanctions under the Stability and Growth Pact File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3891 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3891 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 163-172 Author-Name: Martin Sacher Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Abstract: Fiscal policy surveillance, including the possibility to impose financial sanctions, has been an important feature of Economic and Monetary Union since its inception. With the reform of fiscal rules in the aftermath of the financial and sovereign debt crisis, coercive provisions have been made stricter and the Commission has formally gained power vis-à-vis the Council. Nevertheless, sanctions under the Stability and Growth Pact for budgetary non-compliance have so far not been imposed. This article asks why the Commission has until now refrained from proposing such sanctions. Using minimalist process-tracing methods, three post-crisis cases in which the imposition of fines was possible, are analysed. Applying an adaptation of normative institutionalism, it is argued that the mechanism entitled “normative-strategic minimum enforcement” provides an explanation of why no sanctions are imposed in the cases studied: Given that the Commission does not perceive punitive action as appropriate, it strategically refrains from applying the enforcement provisions to their full extent. Keywords: European Commission; fiscal policy coordination; fiscal surveillance; logic of appropriateness; process-tracing; sanctions; Stability and Growth Pact Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:163-172 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Reforming the Institutions of Eurozone Governance File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4263 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.4263 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 159-162 Author-Name: Anna-Lena Högenauer Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Science, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Author-Name: Moritz Rehm Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Science, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Abstract: The Eurozone has faced repeated crises and has experienced profound transformations in the past years. This thematic issue seeks to address the questions arising from the changing governance structure of the Eurozone. First, how have the negotiations, pressures of the crises and reforms impacted the relationships between key actors like EU institutions and Member States? Second, where did national positions come from and what role did domestic politics play in the negotiations? And finally, to what extent has the evolution of Eurozone governance left room for adequate control mechanisms and democratic debate? The articles in this issue highlight the developing role of Member States, domestic politics and democratic and legal control mechanisms. Keywords: democratic deficit; domestic politics; Economic and Monetary Union; European Central Bank; Eurozone checks-and-balances; Eurozone governance; sanctions Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:159-162 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Public Engagement in Climate Communication on China’s Weibo: Network Structure and Information Flows File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3754 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3754 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 146-158 Author-Name: Yixi Yang Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Sociology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada Author-Name: Mark C. J. Stoddart Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Sociology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada Abstract: This article provides an empirical study of public engagement with climate change discourse in China by analysing how Chinese publics participate in the public discussion around two Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports and how individual users interact with state and elite actors on the pre-eminent Chinese microblogging platform Weibo. Using social network analysis methods and a temporal comparison, we examine the structure of climate communication networks, the direction of information flows among multiple types of Weibo users, and the changes in information diffusion patterns between the pre- and post-Paris periods. Our results show there is an increasing yet constrained form of public engagement in climate communication on Weibo alongside China’s pro-environmental transition in recent years. We find an expansion of public engagement as shown by individual users’ increasing influence in communication networks and the diversification of frames associated with climate change discourse. However, we also find three restrictive interaction tendencies that limit Weibo’s potential to facilitate multi-directional communication and open public deliberation of climate change, including the decline of mutually balanced dialogic interactions, the lack of bottom-up information flows, and the reinforcement of homophily tendencies amongst eco-insiders and governmental users. These findings highlight the coexistence of both opportunities and constraints of Weibo being a venue for public engagement with climate communication and as a forum for a new climate politics and citizen participation in China. Keywords: climate change communication; China; public engagement; social media; social network analysis Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:146-158 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Clashing Tactics, Clashing Generations: The Politics of the School Strikes for Climate in Belgium File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3869 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3869 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 135-145 Author-Name: Anneleen Kenis Author-Workplace-Name: FWO–Research Foundation Flanders, Division of Geography and Tourism, KU Leuven, Belgium / Centre for Sustainable Development, Ghent University, Belgium Abstract: Much has been written about the challenges of tackling climate change in post-political times. However, times have changed significantly since the onset of the debate on post-politics in environmental scholarship. We have entered a politicised, even polarised world which, as this article argues, a number of voices within the climate movement paradoxically try to bring together again. This article scrutinises new climate movements in a changing world, focusing on the School Strikes for Climate in Belgium. It shows how the movement, through the establishment of an intergenerational conflict line and a strong politicisation of tactics, has succeeded in putting the topic at the heart of the public agenda for months on end. By claiming that we need mobilisation, not studying, the movement went straight against the hegemonic, technocratic understanding of climate politics at the time. However, by keeping its demands empty and establishing a homogenised fault line, the movement made itself vulnerable to forms of neutralisation and recuperation by forces which have an interest in restoring the post-political consensus around technocratic and market-oriented answers to climate change. This might also partly explain its gradual decline. Instead of recycling post-political discourses of the past, this article claims, the challenge is to seize the ‘populist moment’ and build a politicised movement around climate change. One way of doing that is by no longer projecting climate change into the future but reframing the ‘now’ as the moment of crisis which calls on us to build another future. Keywords: Chantal Mouffe; climate change; climate law; depoliticisation; intergenerational justice; new climate activism; politicisation; post-politics; School Strikes for Climate; technocracy; Youth for Climate Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:135-145 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: New Climate Activism between Politics and Law: Analyzing the Strategy of the KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3819 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3819 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 124-134 Author-Name: Seline Keller Author-Workplace-Name: Independent Researcher, Switzerland Author-Name: Basil Bornemann Author-Workplace-Name: Sustainability Research Group, Department of Social Sciences, University of Basel, Switzerland Abstract: Since 2016, a group of senior women organized in the association KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz have been trying to legally force the Swiss government to take stronger climate protection measures. Parallel to the pursuit of a climate lawsuit, the KlimaSeniorinnen have developed into a growing social movement that is present in the media and participates in the public debate on climate change. Building on this specific climate litigation case, the present article analyzes the strategy formation of new actors in the field of climate governance. Based on existing concepts of social movement research, the strategy formation of the KlimaSeniorinnen is reconstructed in terms of a strategic actor who pursues certain strategic orientations in given strategic contexts. The empirical analysis of the strategic context (by means of opportunity structures), the strategic orientations (via collective action frames), and the strategic actor (by means of interviews) shows a double strategy. On the one hand, the KlimaSeniorinnen attempt to address a specific legal opportunity structure with an ‘injustice frame,’ which emphasizes human rights and the special vulnerability of older women to intense heat waves. On the other hand, they want to mobilize public support for an ambitious climate policy by additionally promoting a ‘grandchildren frame,’ which articulates altruistic values, such as responsibility towards future generations. Based on this analysis, both practical implications and consequences for future research on a new climate politics, which is increasingly taking shape between and across different arenas, are discussed. Keywords: climate activism; climate litigation; climate movement; KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz; new climate politics; strategy; Switzerland Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:124-134 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Shifting Coalitions within the Youth Climate Movement in the US File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3801 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3801 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 112-123 Author-Name: Dana R. Fisher Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Sociology, University of Maryland, College Park, USA Author-Name: Sohana Nasrin Author-Workplace-Name: Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland, College Park, USA Abstract: How has the youth climate movement in the US grown since the Climate Strikes began and in what ways did it change as it grew? This article takes advantage of a unique dataset that includes surveys from activists who organized the nationally coordinated climate strikes in the US that began with Fridays for Future in spring 2019. Building on the research on alliance building and strategic coalitions, this article analyzes how the patterns of participation changed over the period of the study. We employ social network analysis to map the affiliation networks among the organizers of these events to assess the coalitions of groups involved and the shifting organizational landscape. Our analysis does not provide evidence that groups spanned the boundaries across movements, nor does it show that identity plays a role in coalition building in this movement. Instead, by mapping out the coalition of organizations within this movement and how connections among them change over time, we see clear evidence that this youth-led movement was reoriented by adult-led organizations. Our article concludes by considering how these findings suggest the future trajectory of the youth climate movement and its role in a ‘new climate politics’ in America. Keywords: activism; climate change; climate movement; climate strike; coalitions; social network analysis Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:112-123 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Just Adapt: Engaging Disadvantaged Young People in Planning for Climate Adaptation File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3892 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3892 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 100-111 Author-Name: Anna R. Davies Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland Author-Name: Stephan Hügel Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland Abstract: The visibility of young people in climate change debates has risen significantly since the inception of the Fridays for Future movement, but little is known about the diversity of positions, perspectives and experiences of young people in Ireland, especially with respect to climate change adaptation planning. To close this knowledge gap, this article first interrogates key emergent spaces of public participation within the arena of climate action in Ireland in order to identify the extent of young people’s participation and whether any specific consideration is given to disadvantaged groups. It then tests the impacts of workshops specifically designed to support disadvantaged young people’s engagement with climate change adaptation which were rolled out with a designated Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools school in inner-city Dublin, Ireland. We found limited attention to public participation in climate change adaptation planning generally, with even less consideration given to engaging young people from disadvantaged communities. However, positive impacts with respect to enhanced knowledge of climate change science and policy processes emerged following participation in the workshops, providing the bedrock for a greater sense of self-efficacy around future engagement with climate action amongst the young people involved. We conclude that what is needed to help ensure procedural justice around climate action in Ireland are specific, relevant and interactive educational interventions on the issue of climate change adaptation; interventions which are sensitive to matters of place and difference. Keywords: adaptation; climate change; education; Ireland; participation; young people Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:100-111 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Carbon Ruins: Engaging with Post-Fossil Transitions through Participatory World-Building File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3816 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3816 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 87-99 Author-Name: Johannes Stripple Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Lund University, Sweden Author-Name: Alexandra Nikoleris Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Technology and Society, Lund University, Sweden Author-Name: Roger Hildingsson Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Lund University, Sweden Abstract: While many pathways to post-fossil futures have been articulated, most fail to engage people in imagining themselves as being part of those futures and involved in the transition. Following recent calls for more immersive experiences, the 2019 initiative “Carbon Ruins—An Exhibition of the Fossil Era” (Carbon Ruins) is a performance set around a historical museum from the future, which uses recognisable, culturally powerful physical objects to bridge the gap between abstract scenarios and everyday experiences. Through its physical presence and extensive media coverage, Carbon Ruins struck a chord with scientists, activists, creative professionals, policy makers, civil society organisations, and the general public. Like other imaginary worlds, Carbon Ruins is not finished. It is an open-ended process of narrating, imagining, and representing (the transition to) a post-fossil future. In this article we reflect upon Carbon Ruins as a participatory form of world-building that allows for new ways of knowing, and new ways of being, in relation to post-fossil transitions. We discern three different kinds of authorship that were taken on by participants: as originators, dwellers, and explorers. While the originator makes the future world a recognisable place, the dweller can engage active hope in place of a passive sense of urgency, and the explorer can transform resignation into commitment, with a fresh determination to leave the fossil era behind. Situating Carbon Ruins within a critical political tradition, we find post-fossil world-building to be a form of critique that destabilises accustomed ways of thinking and opens up new fields of experience that allows things to be done differently. Keywords: critical practice; experiential futures; imagination; post-fossil futures; world-building Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:87-99 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Contrasting Views of Citizens’ Assemblies: Stakeholder Perceptions of Public Deliberation on Climate Change File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4019 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.4019 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 76-86 Author-Name: Rebecca Sandover Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography, University of Exeter, UK Author-Name: Alice Moseley Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Politics, University of Exeter, UK Author-Name: Patrick Devine-Wright Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography, University of Exeter, UK Abstract: It has been argued that a ‘new climate politics’ has emerged in recent years, in the wake of global climate change protest movements. One part of the new climate politics entails experimentation with citizen-centric input into policy development, via mechanisms of deliberative democracy such as citizens’ assemblies. Yet relatively little is known about the motivations and aspirations of those commissioning climate assemblies or about general public perceptions of these institutions. Addressing these issues is important for increasing understanding of what these deliberative mechanisms represent in the context of climate change, how legitimate, credible and useful they are perceived to be by those involved, and whether they represent a radical way of doing politics differently or a more incremental change. This article addresses these gaps by presenting findings from mixed method research on prior expectations of the Devon Climate Assembly, proposed following the declaration of a climate emergency in 2019. The research compares and contrasts the views of those commissioning and administering the citizens’ assembly, with those of the wider public. Findings indicate widespread support, yet also considerable risk and uncertainty associated with holding the assembly. Enabling input into policy of a broad array of public voices was seen as necessary for effective climate response, yet there was scepticism about the practical challenges involved in ensuring citizen representation, and about whether politicians, and society more generally, would embrace the ‘hard choices’ required. The assembly was diversely represented as a means to unlock structural change, and as an instrumental tool to achieve behaviour change at scale. The Devon Climate Assembly appears to indicate ‘cautious experimentation’ where democratic innovation is widely embraced yet carefully constrained, offering only a modest example of a ‘new climate politics,’ with minimal challenges to the authority of existing institutions. Keywords: citizens’ assemblies; climate assembly; climate change; climate emergency; climate politics; deliberation; democratic innovations Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:76-86 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Representing ‘Place’: City Climate Commissions and the Institutionalisation of Experimental Governance in Edinburgh File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3794 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3794 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 64-75 Author-Name: Alice Creasy Author-Workplace-Name: School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, UK Author-Name: Matthew Lane Author-Workplace-Name: School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, UK Author-Name: Alice Owen Author-Workplace-Name: School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, UK Author-Name: Candice Howarth Author-Workplace-Name: Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK Author-Name: Dan van der Horst Author-Workplace-Name: School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, UK Abstract: Against the backdrop of increasingly fragmented and poly-centric urban climate governance, this article examines the establishment of city climate ‘commissions’ as an experimental means of addressing the challenge of climate change at the city-scale. In doing so it addresses the question: What constitutes diversity in voices and perspectives when trying to represent the city as a place for climate action? To answer this question, the article presents an analysis of the Edinburgh Climate Commission’s establishment, drawing on participatory ethnographic research carried out by a researcher embedded within the project team. The account of how this new mode of urban governance was both conceptualised and then put into practice offers a new institutional angle to the literature on urban ‘experimentation.’ Through our reflective analysis we argue that aspirations to ensure pre-defined ‘key’ industries (high carbon emitters) are accounted for in commissioner recruitment, and an over-emphasis on capturing discernible ‘impacts’ in the short term (by involving organisations already pro-active in sustainable development) hindered an opportunity to embrace new perspectives on urban futures and harness the innovative potential of cities to engage with the multifaceted nature of the climate challenge. Furthermore, new insight into the relationship between local authorities and other ‘place-based’ agents of change opens up important questions regarding how to balance the attainment of legitimacy within the political status quo, and the prospect of a new radical politics for urban transformation. Keywords: agency; cities; climate change; Edinburgh; local governance; net zero; polycentrism; Scotland Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:64-75 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Crisis Capitalism and Climate Finance: The Framing, Monetizing, and Orchestration of Resilience-Amidst-Crisis File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3739 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3739 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 51-63 Author-Name: Joshua Long Author-Workplace-Name: Environmental Studies Program, Southwestern University, USA Abstract: Throughout the development sector there has been a pronounced call for new funding mechanisms to address the climate crisis, and much of this is focused on attracting private sources of capital to fund ‘bankable’ projects in climate-vulnerable cities throughout the world. Enacted amidst a 21st century landscape of interlocking financial, epidemiological, and ecological crises, this call features an urgent narrative of ‘resilience-amidst-crisis’ that promotes large-scale, profitable investments as a form of green growth through debt-financing. The political orchestration and administration of new funding mechanisms (particularly green bonds and sustainable bonds) requires a new form of climate governance focused on the channeling of enormous sums of private capital through an assemblage of intermediaries toward profitable climate projects. This article interrogates this trend in climate finance, revealing that the framing, monetization, and orchestration of climate projects is dependent on a narrative of crisis capitalism deeply rooted in a colonial mindset of exploitation and profit. A key aim of this article is to deconstruct the contemporary dominance of crisis-oriented development and suggest the goal of decolonizing and democratizing the climate finance system. Keywords: climate finance; climate governance; climate urbanism; crisis capitalism; resilience Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:51-63 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The ‘Stifling’ of New Climate Politics in Ireland File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3797 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3797 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 41-50 Author-Name: Louise Michelle Fitzgerald Author-Workplace-Name: Geography Department, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland Author-Name: Paul Tobin Author-Workplace-Name: School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester, UK Author-Name: Charlotte Burns Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Sheffield, UK Author-Name: Peter Eckersley Author-Workplace-Name: Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, UK / Department for Institutional Change and Regional Public Goods, Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space, Germany Abstract: In 2019, Ireland declared a ‘Climate Emergency,’ receiving plaudits from across the political spectrum for doing so. Some argued the country was experiencing an era of ‘new climate politics’: In 2017, Ireland had established the first Citizens’ Assembly on Climate, and in 2019 its Parliament debated a Climate Emergency Measures Bill, which was ground-breaking in its proposal to ban offshore oil and gas exploration. Yet, despite majority support for this Bill in Parliament, the minority Government blocked the legislation by refusing to grant a ‘Money Message,’ a potential veto activated following indication by an independent actor that a Bill would require the appropriation of public money. We introduce the concept of ‘policy stifling’ to capture how the Money Message was used to block the Climate Emergency Measures Bill. We conduct detailed process-tracing analysis, building on elite semi-structured interviews with policy makers and campaigners involved in the process. We argue that whilst the Government’s stifling undermined the new era of elite climate politics, it simultaneously boosted an emerging grassroots climate politics movement with the potential for effecting more radical change in the longer term. Keywords: climate change; climate emergency; depoliticisation; Ireland; policy dismantling; policy stifling; public policy; veto theory Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:41-50 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Universities, Sustainability, and Neoliberalism: Contradictions of the Climate Emergency Declarations File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3872 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3872 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 29-40 Author-Name: Kirstie O’Neill Author-Workplace-Name: School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University, UK Author-Name: Charlotte Sinden Author-Workplace-Name: School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University, UK Abstract: UK universities have been successively declaring a climate emergency, following the University of Bristol’s lead in 2019. Universities are key actors in climate change education, and potentially progressive organisations researching, teaching and implementing low carbon futures. Using universities’ sustainability strategies, we present a secondary analysis identifying neoliberalism’s significant role in influencing universities’ sustainability policies and practices. This plays out through university boosterism where universities use their sustainability work to claim sustainability leadership, representing a form of sustainability capital to attract funding and potential students. Furthermore, we suggest a cognitive-practice gap exists between those researching sustainability and those implementing sustainability in universities. Thus, we conclude that there are inherent tensions in universities’ sustainability governance, with universities embodying contradictory sustainability discourses and advancing a form of green capital. Entrenched neoliberal ideologies present challenges for those declaring a climate emergency and how such declarations are subsequently operationalised. Keywords: climate change; climate emergency; neoliberalism; sustainability; United Kingdom; universities Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:29-40 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Motivations and Intended Outcomes in Local Governments' Declarations of Climate Emergency File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3755 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3755 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 17-28 Author-Name: Xira Ruiz-Campillo Author-Workplace-Name: Department of International Relations and Global History, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain Author-Name: Vanesa Castán Broto Author-Workplace-Name: Urban Institute, Interdisciplinary Centre for the Social Sciences, University of Sheffield, UK Author-Name: Linda Westman Author-Workplace-Name: Urban Institute, Interdisciplinary Centre for the Social Sciences, University of Sheffield, UK Abstract: Near 1,500 governments worldwide, including over 1,000 local governments, have declared a climate emergency. Such declarations constitute a response to the growing visibility of social movements in international politics as well as the growing role of cities in climate governance. Framing climate change as an emergency, however, can bring difficulties in both the identification of the most appropriate measures to adopt and the effectiveness of those measures in the long run. We use textual analysis to examine the motivations and intended outcomes of 300 declarations endorsed by local governments. The analysis demonstrates that political positioning, previous experience of environmental action within local government, and pressure from civil society are the most common motivations for declaring a climate emergency at the local level. The declarations constitute symbolic gestures highlighting the urgency of the climate challenge, but they do not translate into radically different responses to the climate change challenge. The most commonly intended impacts are increasing citizens’ awareness of climate change and establishing mechanisms to influence future planning and infrastructure decisions. However, the declarations are adopted to emphasize the increasing role cities are taking on, situating local governments as crucial agents bridging global and local action agendas. Keywords: cities; climate change; climate emergency; emergency declarations; local governments; performative acts; politics Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:17-28 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Climate Politics in Green Deals: Exposing the Political Frontiers of the European Green Deal File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3853 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.3853 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 8-16 Author-Name: Juan Antonio Samper Author-Workplace-Name: Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies, Lund University, Sweden Author-Name: Amanda Schockling Author-Workplace-Name: Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies, Lund University, Sweden Author-Name: Mine Islar Author-Workplace-Name: Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies, Lund University, Sweden Abstract: This article investigates the political attempts to frame European climate politics and provides a critical discourse analysis of the European Green Deal. A rapid transition towards low-carbon development across the world has been contested by discourses aiming to acknowledge the inseparability of social and ecological issues. These discussions are fairly new in the European context and in 2019, the European Commission presented its Communication on the European Green Deal—the European Union’s legislative roadmap to carbon neutrality by 2050. Empirical evidence for this article is derived from process tracing and policy analysis of the European Commission’s documents on the European Green Deal in relation to existing Green New Deals. Drawing from a neo-Gramscian perspective we argue that the European Green Deal is an attempt to extend the neoliberal hegemonic formation within European climate politics. This results in the foreclosure of democratic channels for articulating climate politics according to dissenting discourses, thereby avoiding the political contestation inherent to climate politics. Keywords: climate politics; depoliticization; European Green Deal; hegemony; neoliberalism; sustainability Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:8-16 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Editorial: Is There a New Climate Politics? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4341 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i2.4341 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 2 Pages: 1-7 Author-Name: Anna R. Davies Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland Author-Name: Vanesa Castán Broto Author-Workplace-Name: Urban Institute, University of Sheffield, UK Author-Name: Stephan Hügel Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland Abstract: Addressing climate change globally requires significant transformations of production and consumption systems. The language around climate action has shifted tangibly over the last five years to reflect this. Indeed, thousands of local governments, national governments, universities and scientists have declared a climate emergency. Some commentators argue that the emergency framing conveys a new and more appropriate level of urgency needed to respond to climate challenges; to create a social tipping point in the fight against climate change. Others are concerned to move on from such emergency rhetoric to urgent action. Beyond emergency declarations, new spaces of, and places for, engagement with climate change are emerging. The public square, the exhibition hall, the law courts, and the investors’ forum are just some of the arenas where climate change politics are now being negotiated. Emergent governing mechanisms are being utilised, from citizens’ assemblies to ecocide lawsuits. New social movements from Extinction Rebellion to Fridays For Future demonstrate heightened concern and willingness to undertake civil disobedience and protest against climate inaction. Yet questions remain which are addressed in this thematic issue: Are these discourses and spaces of engagement manifestations of a radical new climate politics? And if these are new climate politics, do they mark a shift of gear in current discourses with the potential to effect transformative climate action and support a just transition to a decarbonised world? Keywords: climate assemblies; climate change; climate emergency; climate politics; Green New Deal; just transition; youth movements Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:2:p:1-7 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Return to De Capitani: The EU Legislative Process between Transparency and Effectiveness File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4249 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.4249 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 296-299 Author-Name: Emanuele Rebasti Author-Workplace-Name: Legal Service, Council of the European Union, Belgium Abstract:Three years after the judgment of the General Court in the De Capitani case, we assess whether the findings of the Court have settled for good the debate between transparency and effectiveness in EU law-making or rather opened new reflections on legislative transparency in the EU.
Keywords: 4 column tables; De Capitani; decision-making effectiveness; European Union; law-making; legislative transparency; Regulation 1049/2001; trilogues Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:296-299 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: EU Transparency as ‘Documents’: Still Fit for Purpose? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4134 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.4134 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 292-295 Author-Name: Maarten Hillebrandt Author-Workplace-Name: Eric Castrén Institute, Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki, Finland Abstract: In this thematic issue, the question whether EU decision making might be characterised by an excess of transparency stands central. This contribution addresses an issue that precedes such questions of quantity: that of transparency’s qualities, i.e., its specific shape. From an early point in time, transparency in the EU has been equated with the narrow and legalistic notion of ‘access to documents.’ Although since then, transparency has become associated with a wider range of practices, the Union has not managed to shake off the concept’s association with bureaucracy, opacity, and complexity. This remains the case, in spite of the fact that administrations and decision-makers across the world increasingly utilise the possibilities of technological innovation to communicate more directly with their electorates. In this changing communicative context, this commentary considers whether EU transparency as access to documents is still fit for purpose. It does so by exploring access policy from the vantage point of legal developments, administrative practices, political dynamics, and technological innovations. The commentary concludes that while improvements are needed, the access to documents concept endures. However, access to documents needs to be complemented by constructive (rather than predatory) public justification and contestation, to remain viable. Keywords: access to documents; administrative circumvention; document base; European Union; record keeping; transparency Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:292-295 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: From Neglect to Protection: Attitudes towards Whistleblowers in the European Institutions (1957–2002) File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3944 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3944 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 281-291 Author-Name: Joris Gijsenbergh Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Law, Radboud University, The Netherlands Abstract: This article analyses how transparency became a buzzword in the European Union (EU) and its predecessors. In order to do so, it examines how the European Parliament (EP), the European Commission, the Court of Justice, and earlier European institutions responded to whistleblowing, between 1957 and 2002. In 2019, the EP agreed to encourage and protect whistleblowers. However, whistleblowing is far from a recent phenomenon. Historical examples include Louis Worms (1957), Stanley Adams (1973), and Paul van Buitenen (1998). Based on policy documents and parliamentary debates, this article studies the attitudes and reactions within European institutions towards whistleblowing. Their responses to unauthorized disclosures show how their views on openness developed from the beginning of European integration. Such cases sparked debate on whether whistleblowers deserved praise for revealing misconduct, or criticism for breaching corporate and political secrecy. In addition, whistleblowing cases urged politicians and officials to discuss how valuable transparency was, and whether the public deserved to be informed. This article adds a historical perspective to the multidisciplinary literature on whistleblowing. Both its focus on the European Coal and Steel Community, European Economic Community, and EU and its focus on changing attitudes towards transparency provide an important contribution to this multidisciplinary field. Keywords: democracy; EU history; European integration; European institutions; transparency; whistleblowing Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:281-291 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: To What Extent Can the CJEU Contribute to Increasing the EU Legislative Process’ Transparency? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3969 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3969 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 272-280 Author-Name: Benjamin Bodson Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for International and European Law, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium Abstract: Alongside other actors such as the European Ombudsman, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) plays what looks like, at first sight, a key role in improving the transparency of EU legislative procedures. To take two relatively recent examples, the De Capitani v. European Parliament (2018) judgment was perceived as a victory by those in favor of increased transparency of EU legislative procedures at the stage of trilogues, as was the ClientEarth v. European Commission (2018) judgment regarding the pre-initiative stage. Both rulings emphasize the need for “allowing citizens to scrutinize all the information which has formed the basis of a legislative act…[as] a precondition for the effective exercise of their democratic rights” (ClientEarth v. European Commission, 2018, §84; De Capitani v. European Parliament, 2018, §80). Nevertheless, while the CJEU’s case law may indeed contribute to improving the legislative process’ transparency, its impact on the latter is inherently limited and even bears the potential of having a perverse effect. This article sheds light on the limits of the CJEU’s capacity to act in this field and the potential effects of its case law on the EU institutions’ attitudes or internal organization. Keywords: Council of the European Union; Court of Justice of the European Union; European Commission; European Parliament; European Union; legislative procedure; transparency Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:272-280 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Transparency in EU Trade Policy: A Comprehensive Assessment of Current Achievements File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3771 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3771 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 261-271 Author-Name: Axel Marx Author-Workplace-Name: Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, University of Leuven, Belgium Author-Name: Guillaume Van der Loo Author-Workplace-Name: University of Ghent, Belgium Abstract:The EU trade policy is increasingly confronted with demands for more transparency. This article aims to investigate how transparency takes shape in EU trade policy. First, we operationalize the concept of transparency along two dimensions: a process dimension and an actor dimension. We then apply this framework to analysis of EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). After analyzing transparency in relation to FTAs from the perspective of the institutional actors (Commission, Council and Parliament), the different instruments and policies that grant the public actors (civil society and citizens) access to information and documents about EU FTAs are explored by discussing Regulation 1049/2001, which provides for public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, and the role of the European Ombudsman. The article is based on an analysis of official documents, assessments in the academic literature and case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The ultimate aim is to assess current initiatives and identify relevant gaps in the EU’s transparency policies. This article argues that the EU has made significant progress in fostering transparency in the negotiation phase of FTAs, but less in the implementation phase.
Keywords: European Commission; European Council; European Parliament; Free Trade Agreements; Ombudsman; regulation; trade policy; transparency Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:261-271 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Talkin’ ‘bout a Negotiation: (Un)Transparent Rapporteurs’ Speeches in the European Parliament File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3823 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3823 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 248-260 Author-Name: Damien Pennetreau Author-Workplace-Name: FNRS-FRS, Belgium / Louvain-Europe Political Science Institute, UCLouvain, Belgium Author-Name: Thomas Laloux Author-Workplace-Name: FNRS-FRS, Belgium / Louvain-Europe Political Science Institute, UCLouvain, Belgium Abstract: For policies to be legitimate, both the policy process and the underlying reasons must be transparent to the public. In the EU, the lion’s share of legislation is nowadays negotiated in informal secluded meeting called trilogues. Therefore, presentation of the trilogues compromise by the rapporteur to the European Parliament (EP) plenary is, arguably, one of the few formal occasions for ‘transparency in process,’ i.e., public access to the details of actual interactions between policymakers. The aim of this article is thus to examine the extent to which rapporteurs are transparent about trilogue negotiations when presenting legislative compromises to the EP during plenary sessions, and to assess whether the extent of transparency is linked to the extent of conflict between legislative actors and to elements of the political context related to rapporteurs. To this purpose, we coded 176 rapporteur speeches and, on this basis, concluded that these speeches poorly discuss the trilogue negotiations. Interinstitutional negotiations are discussed in only 64% of cases, and even when they are, the extent of information about trilogues is generally small. While we do not find support for an effect of political conflicts, some characteristics linked with rapporteurs are significantly related to transparency in process of their speeches. This is the case for their political affiliation and their national culture of transparence. Keywords: European Parliament; European Union; plenary debates; rapporteurs; transparency; trilogues Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:248-260 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Lobbying Transparency: The Limits of EU Monitory Democracy File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3936 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3936 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 237-247 Author-Name: William Dinan Author-Workplace-Name: Division of Communication, Media & Culture, Faculty of Arts & Humanities, University of Stirling, UK Abstract: This article examines the origins and current operation of the EU’s lobbying transparency register and offers a critical review of the drivers and politics associated with lobbying reform in Brussels. The analysis considers the dynamics of political communication in EU institutions and draws on concepts of the fourth estate, the public sphere and monitory democracy to illustrate the particular challenges around lobbying transparency and opening up governance processes to wider scrutiny, and wider participation, at the EU level. This article draws upon interviews, official data and participant observation of some of the deliberations on lobbying transparency dating back to the 2005 ETI. The analysis is brought up to date by examining the data within the Transparency Register itself, both substantively in terms of the kinds of information disclosed and in relation to trends around disclosures and registration, since the register was launched over a decade ago. The article concludes with a critical appraisal of the evolving issue culture relating to lobbying transparency in Brussels as well as recommendations for the development of the Transparency Register itself. Keywords: accountability; disclosure; lobbying; monitory democracy; political communications; public sphere; transparency Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:237-247 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: How to Produce and Measure Throughput Legitimacy? Lessons from a Systematic Literature Review File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4011 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.4011 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 226-236 Author-Name: Vincent Caby Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science Louvain-Europe, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium Author-Name: Lise Frehen Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science Louvain-Europe, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium Abstract: After two decades of research on throughput legitimacy, making sense of the stock of accumulated knowledge remains a challenge. How can relevant publications on throughput legitimacy be collected and analysed? How can the level of throughput legitimacy be measured? Which policy activities contribute to the production of throughput legitimacy? To answer these questions, we designed and implemented an original systematic literature review. We find that the measurement of the level of throughput legitimacy introduces a number of problems that call for the systematic and rigorous use of a more complete set of precise, specific indicators to advance the theory of throughput legitimacy. A number of participatory decision-making activities contribute to the production of throughput legitimacy. Engaging in these activities is not without risk, as variations in throughput legitimacy affect input and output legitimacy. To prevent vicious circles, lessons can be drawn from the literature on collaborative governance and decision-makers’ strategies to support effective collaboration between stakeholders. Keywords: citation network analysis; collaborative governance; legitimacy; quantitative text analysis; systematic literature review; throughput legitimacy Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:226-236 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Editorial: Access or Excess? Redefining the Boundaries of Transparency in the EU’s Decision-Making File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4291 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.4291 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 221-225 Author-Name: Camille Kelbel Author-Workplace-Name: European School of Political and Social Sciences, Lille Catholic University, France Author-Name: Axel Marx Author-Workplace-Name: Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, University of Leuven, Belgium Author-Name: Julien Navarro Author-Workplace-Name: ETHICS EA 7446, Lille Catholic University, France Abstract: Over the last decades, transparency has featured prominently among the European Union’s (EU) efforts to democratize and legitimize its governance. This shift toward transparency has taken many forms and, as the contributions to this thematic issue show, these different forms have evolved significantly over time. Yet, initiatives to enhance transparency have often been blamed for limiting the efficiency of the decision-making process or leading to suboptimal policy outcomes. Consequently, the debate has shifted to whether transparency would be excessive in that it would undermine the EU’s capacity to deliver through political arrangements. This editorial presents this transparency–efficiency dilemma, which the different contributions to this thematic issue analyse further. Keywords: democracy; efficiency; European Union; throughput legitimacy; transparency Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:221-225 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Locating Cities and Their Governments in Multi-Level Sustainability Governance File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3616 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3616 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 211-220 Author-Name: Thomas Hickmann Author-Workplace-Name: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Abstract: Cities and their governments are increasingly recognized as important actors in global sustainability governance. With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, their role in the global endeavor to foster sustainability has once again been put in the spotlight. Several scholars have highlighted pioneering local strategies and policies to implement the Sustainable Development Goals and render urban areas more sustainable. However, the question of how such urban sustainability actions are embedded in complex interactions between public and private actors operating at different levels has not been studied in enough detail. Building upon a multi-level governance approach, this article explores the entanglement and interconnectedness of cities and local governments with actors and institutions at various levels and scales to better capture the potential and limitations of urban policymaking contributing to global sustainability. The article finds that on the one hand cities and their governments are well positioned to engage other actors into a policy dialogue. On the other hand, local authorities face considerable budgetary and institutional capacity constraints, and they heavily rely on support from actors at other governmental levels and societal scales to carry out effective sustainability actions in urban areas. Keywords: 2030 Agenda; cities; local governments; multi-level governance; Sustainable Development Goals Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:211-220 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Conceptualizing Interactions between SDGs and Urban Sustainability Transformations in Covid-19 Times File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3607 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3607 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 200-210 Author-Name: Kerstin Krellenberg Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna, Austria / Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Germany Author-Name: Florian Koch Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Germany / Department of Economics and Law, University of Applied Sciences, Germany Abstract: Given the potential of cities to contribute to a more sustainable world as framed by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN 2030 Development Agenda, this article focuses on Urban Sustainability Transformations. We take a closer look at the potentials, contradictions and challenges that SDG implementation in cities involves in light of the current Covid-19 pandemic. We argue that SDG implementation needs to consider these global challenges in order to pursue its transformative approach. As a starting point we take SDG 11 and its subtargets to achieve resilient cities and communities, with a focus on German cities. The article will thus contribute to the discussion on the constraints associated with implementing SDGs in cities, given the multiple challenges and actors involved, and the complexity this implies for Urban Sustainability Transformations. Keywords: cities; Covid-19; Germany; pandemic; SDGs; urban sustainability Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:200-210 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: A New Generation of Sustainability Governance: Potentials for 2030 Agenda Implementation in Swiss Cantons File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3682 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3682 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 187-199 Author-Name: Basil Bornemann Author-Workplace-Name: Sustainability Research Group, Department of Social Sciences, University of Basel, Switzerland Author-Name: Marius Christen Author-Workplace-Name: Sustainability Research Group, Department of Social Sciences, University of Basel, Switzerland Abstract: Governments and administrations at all levels play a central role in shaping sustainable development. Over the past 30 years, many have developed differentiated sustainability governance arrangements (SGAs) to incorporate sustainability into their governing practice. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which the UN adopted in 2015, brings with it some significant conceptual shifts in sustainability thinking that, in turn, entail new governance requirements. Starting from practical calls for improved understanding of the requirements and conditions of 2030 Agenda implementation ‘on the ground,’ this article examines existing SGAs’ potential to deal with the generational shift that the 2030 Agenda implies. To this end, four ideal-typical SGAs representing an early generation of sustainability governance at the subnational level in Switzerland are related to five specific governance requirements emerging from the 2030 Agenda. The analysis highlights different possibilities and limitations of the four SGAs to meet 2030 Agenda requirements and points to the need for context-specific reforms of first-generation sustainability governance in the wake of the new Agenda. Keywords: 2030 agenda; governance transformation; government; subnational level; sustainability governance; Sustainable Development Goals; Switzerland Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:187-199 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: SDG Implementation through Technology? Governing Food-Water-Technology Nexus Challenges in Urban Agriculture File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3590 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3590 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 176-186 Author-Name: Sandra Schwindenhammer Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany Author-Name: Denise Gonglach Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany Abstract: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development emphasizes the importance of technology as a pillar for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Technology innovation promises benefits especially for the implementation of SDG 2 to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. Contributing to current debates on SDG implementation, technology innovation, and cross-sectoral governance, we argue that technology innovation carries both the potential to contribute to global goal implementation and the risk of posing new governance challenges. Applying a food-water-technology nexus (FWTN) perspective, we conduct a case study on an emerging technology in urban agricultural production in Germany. The technology connects the wastewater treatment system and the agricultural production system and projects the transformation of a conventional sewage treatment plant into a ‘NEWtrient®-Center,’ which draws the essential resources for urban hydroponic plant cultivation from municipal wastewater. Building on qualitative and participatory research methods, the study provides deeper insights into the governance implications of FWTN issues stemming from the emerging technology. The analysis shows that this technology has the potential to facilitate SDG implementation, but simultaneously fuels new sector interlinkages between water and food and policy demands that substantiate the need for more integrated policymaking to ensure the smart use of technology to reach the SDGs. Keywords: cross-sectoral governance; food-water-technology nexus; Germany; participatory research method; SDG implementation; technology innovation; urban agriculture; wastewater treatment Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:176-186 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Scientific Knowledge Integration and the Implementation of the SDGs: Comparing Strategies of Sustainability Networks File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3630 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3630 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 164-175 Author-Name: Ulrike Zeigermann Author-Workplace-Name: Department for Political Science, University of Magdeburg, Germany Abstract: Although there is a broad agreement on the importance of scientific knowledge for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, high levels of uncertainty and debate about what counts as knowledge challenge the use of research for political decision-making. Hence, the question arises, which strategies of scientific knowledge integration are adopted by science-based actor-networks that seek to enhance evidence in sustainability governance. In this article, I study the Sustainable Development Solution Network (SDSN) engaged in different institutional settings and policy fields. With a qualitative document analysis, I compare the overall structure, objectives, thematic focus, formal knowledge processes, and outputs of 22 national sub-networks of the global SDSN in order to elucidate how these initiatives integrate contested sustainability knowledge underpinning the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. My findings suggest that most SDSNs adopt solution-oriented knowledge integration strategies but also that networks in countries with better overall SDG performance tend to adopt assessment-oriented and learning-oriented strategies. In reflecting on these results in the context of the current literature on knowledge integration in sustainability governance, I argue that science–policy interfaces are shaped by the intentional and dynamic interactions of actors within their institutional setting and policy environment, and propose pathways for further research. Keywords: expertise; global actor networks; knowledge integration; knowledge networks; SDG; sustainable development; sustainability governance Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:164-175 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Transformation through ‘Meaningful’ Partnership? SDG 17 as Metagovernance Norm and Its Global Health Implementation File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3656 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3656 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 152-163 Author-Name: Elena Sondermann Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Development and Peace, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany Author-Name: Cornelia Ulbert Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Development and Peace, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany Abstract: SDG 17 calls for the international community to “strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development,” emphasizing the role of multi-stakeholder partnerships for achieving the SDGs. Policy documents are replete with statements on the necessity of ‘meaningful’ engagement, especially with civil society—without clarifying what ‘meaningful’ stands for. In this article, we develop an analytical approach to partnership as a form and norm of metagovernance. Partnership as a metanorm is about the roles and relations of different sets of actors. We suggest operationalizing the concept of partnership according to different levels of accountability and participation, allowing for a gradual enhancement of the quality of partnership in terms of ‘meaningfulness.’ We apply our analytical model to the Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well‐Being for All (GAP), a fairly new initiative by health and development agencies to accelerate progress towards the health-related targets of the 2030 Agenda. By investigating the development and the early phase of implementing the GAP, we empirically assess if and how the notion of partnership envisioned in the GAP qualifies as ‘meaningful’ with respect to civil society engagement. From our empirical example, we infer lessons for attaining normative standards of ‘meaningfulness’ and highlight implications for future research on partnerships. Keywords: accountability; civil society organizations; global health; metagovernance; participation; partnership; sustainable development goals Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:152-163 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Aligned Sustainability Understandings? Global Inter-Institutional Arrangements and the Implementation of SDG 2 File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3591 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3591 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 141-151 Author-Name: Helmut Breitmeier Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany Author-Name: Sandra Schwindenhammer Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany Author-Name: Andrés Checa Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany Author-Name: Jacob Manderbach Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany Author-Name: Magdalena Tanzer Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany Abstract: This article asks whether inter-institutional arrangements (IIAs) can facilitate norm understandings of sustainability in the global food regime complex to ensure the implementation of SDG 2. It refers to theories of norm implementation and regime complexes and focuses on two explanatory factors: non-material resources (authority and knowledge) and interplay management (participation and interaction). The article deals with three case studies: The Codex Alimentarius Commission, the Sustainable Food Systems Programme, and the Standards and Trade Development Facility. Qualitative empirical analysis is based on documents and expert interviews. The article assumes that both explanatory factors are beneficial for the development of an aligned sustainability understanding. The findings indicate that IIAs serve as discursive fora for institutional exchange and can, thus, facilitate the development of aligned sustainability understandings in the global food regime complex. However, the article also identifies some structural factors that provide more scope for certain actors to enforce their normative views and interests, which ultimately hampers the implementation of SDG2. Keywords: authority; food regime complex; inter-institutional arrangements; interplay management; SDG implementation; sustainability understandings Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:141-151 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Great Discrepancy: Political Action, Sustainable Development and Ecological Communication File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3631 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3631 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 131-140 Author-Name: Dieter Konold Author-Workplace-Name: Project Management Jülich, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany Author-Name: Thomas Schwietring Author-Workplace-Name: Project Management Jülich, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany Abstract: The term ‘sustainable development’ was coined to denote a political goal some 40 years ago; debates about sustainability date back considerably further. These debates reflect the growing awareness of the destructive effects of human activities on the natural foundations of life. Numerous initiatives have been launched to trigger a turnaround, with the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs being the latest attempt. However, substantial progress has been rather limited thus far. This discrepancy is the subject of the article. Starting from a historical overview of sustainability politics, the argument develops in three steps. First, it is shown that conventional conceptions to promote environmental change fall short in depicting the broader societal context. To provide a comprehensive picture of the challenges related to transformation processes, a theory of the functional differentiation of societies is presented in a second step. A systems theory perspective offers a convincing theoretical explication of the problem. Third, this approach is scrutinized with regard to the political system and the politics of sustainability. The key finding is that the specific functional logics of the different social subsystems must be taken into account when analysing sustainable development and the discrepancy between the aims and ambitions of (global) environmental policy and the visible consequences. On the one hand, the functional differentiation of modern society guarantees its high degree of effectiveness and flexibility. On the other hand, implementing fundamental change, such as a transition towards sustainability, is not simply a question of strategy or of political willingness and steering. Rather, there is a need for more elaborate explanatory instruments. As a result, we argue for a linking of theories of sustainable development and advanced social theory. Keywords: environmental policy; functional differentiation; global governance; Niklas Luhmann; sustainability politics; Sustainable Development Goals; systems theory Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:131-140 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Assessing African Energy Transitions: Renewable Energy Policies, Energy Justice, and SDG 7 File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3615 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3615 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 119-130 Author-Name: Franziska Müller Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences, University of Hamburg, Germany Author-Name: Manuel Neumann Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences, University of Kassel, Germany Author-Name: Carsten Elsner Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences, University of Kassel, Germany Author-Name: Simone Claar Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences, University of Kassel, Germany Abstract: Renewable energy has made significant inroads in addressing growing energy demands on the African continent. However, progress towards SDG 7 is still limited and difficult to trace. Furthermore, the results-oriented rationale of the SDGs means that both policy change and the dimension of environmental justice are not covered properly. We argue that the energy justice concept may provide a powerful tool to offset looming trade-offs and enhance the co-benefits of SDG 7 within broader transition endeavours. In doing so, we assess African energy transition processes based on a comparative mapping of African renewable energy policies in 34 countries. We investigate the scope of policy frameworks in order to analyse their contribution to greater energy justice along different justice dimensions. We then identify four transition scenarios, which reflect the challenges of integrating the justice dimension into renewable energy policies. In comparing these scenarios, we argue that SDG 7 tracking needs to consider the justice dimension to arrive at a more holistic implementation that is in line with socio-ecological justice and takes account of people’s energy needs. Keywords: Africa; energy governance; energy justice; energy transition; policy analysis; renewable energy; Sustainable Development Goals Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:119-130 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Promoting Policy Coherence within the 2030 Agenda Framework: Externalities, Trade-Offs and Politics File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3608 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3608 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 108-118 Author-Name: Alexander Brand Author-Workplace-Name: Rhine-Waal University, Germany Author-Name: Mark Furness Author-Workplace-Name: German Development Institute, Germany Author-Name: Niels Keijzer Author-Workplace-Name: German Development Institute, Germany Abstract: The promotion of Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development is one of the 169 targets of the 2030 Agenda, and considered a key means of implementation. The 2030 Agenda, while noble and necessary to put humanity on a sustainable path, has vastly exacerbated the complexity and ambiguity of development policymaking. This article challenges two assumptions that are common in both policy discussions and associated scholarly debates: First, the technocratic belief that policy coherence is an authentically attainable objective; and second, whether efforts to improve the coherence within and across policies makes achieving the Sustainable Development Goals more likely. We unpack the conventional ‘win-win’ understanding of the policy coherence concept to illustrate that fundamentally incompatible political interests continue to shape global development, and that these cannot be managed away. We argue that heuristic, problem-driven frameworks are needed to promote coherence in settings where these fundamental inconsistencies are likely to persist. Instead of mapping synergies ex-ante, future research and policy debates should focus on navigating political trade-offs and hierarchies while confronting the longer-term goal conflicts that reproduce unsustainable policy choices. Keywords: 2030 agenda; European Union; development policy; policy coherence; policy trade-offs; Sustainable Development Goals Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:108-118 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The UN 2030 Agenda and the Quest for Policy Integration: A Literature Review File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3654 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3654 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 96-107 Author-Name: Basil Bornemann Author-Workplace-Name: Sustainability Research Group, Department of Social Sciences, University of Basel, Switzerland Author-Name: Sabine Weiland Author-Workplace-Name: European School of Political and Social Sciences, Université Catholique de Lille, France Abstract: The adoption of the UN 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represents a milestone in international sustainability politics. The broad and ambitious agenda calls for a reconsideration of established principles and practices of sustainability governance. This article examines how the 2030 Agenda changes the notion of policy integration, which represents a fundamental principle of sustainability governance. In general, policy integration denotes forms of cross-cutting policymaking to address the complexity of real-world problems. In the context of the sustainability discourse, the concept has long been interpreted as environmental policy integration, referring to the integration of environmental concerns into other sectoral policies. Based on a review of the current SDG literature, we examine whether and how this interpretation has changed. In so doing, the reasons (why?), objects (what?) and modes (how?) of policy integration in the context of the 2030 Agenda are specified. The analysis reveals that the 2030 Agenda promotes a comprehensive, reciprocal, and complex form of goal integration which differs markedly from environmental policy integration. This novel understanding of policy integration for sustainable development calls for future research on its impact and relevance in political practice. Keywords: 2030 Agenda; environment; policy integration; SDGs; sustainability governance Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:96-107 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Transformative Change through the Sustainable Development Goals? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4191 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.4191 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 90-95 Author-Name: Sabine Weiland Author-Workplace-Name: European School of Political and Social Sciences, Lille Catholic University, France Author-Name: Thomas Hickmann Author-Workplace-Name: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Author-Name: Markus Lederer Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science, Technical University Darmstadt, Germany Author-Name: Jens Marquardt Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Political Science, Technical University Darmstadt, Germany Author-Name: Sandra Schwindenhammer Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany Abstract: The 2030 Agenda of the United Nations comprises 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 sub-targets which serve as a global reference point for the transition to sustainability. The agenda acknowledges that different issues such as poverty, hunger, health, education, gender equality, environmental degradation, among others, are intertwined and can therefore only be addressed together. Implementing the SDGs as an ‘indivisible whole’ represents the actual litmus test for the success of the 2030 Agenda. The main challenge is accomplishing a more integrated approach to sustainable development that encompasses new governance frameworks for enabling and managing systemic transformations. This thematic issue addresses the question whether and how the SDGs set off processes of societal transformation, for which cooperation between state and non-state actors at all political levels (global, regional, national, sub-national), in different societal spheres (politics, society, and economy), and across various sectors (energy, transportation, food, etc.) are indispensable. In this editorial, we first introduce the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs by providing an overview of the architecture of the agenda and the key challenges of the current implementation phase. In a second step, we present the eleven contributions that make up the thematic issue clustering them around three themes: integration, governance challenges, and implementation. Keywords: 2030 Agenda; governance; implementation; integration; Sustainable Development Goals; sustainability; transformation; transition; United Nations Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:90-95 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Is the Grass Greener on the Other Side? Norwegians’ Assessments of Brexit File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3713 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3713 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 79-89 Author-Name: John Erik Fossum Author-Workplace-Name: ARENA, University of Oslo, Norway Author-Name: Joachim Vigrestad Author-Workplace-Name: ARENA, University of Oslo, Norway Abstract: To what extent has Brexit affected Norwegians’ perceptions of their current relationship with the EU? What are the considerations that central political and societal actors bring up to explain their stances? What are the broader lessons for the EU’s relations with non-members? We argue that Norway’s EU affiliation is so close that we can draw on Catherine De Vries’ benchmark theory to assess whether Brexit affects Norwegians’ assessments of Norway’s relationship with the EU. We focus on the Norwegian government’s stance. Further, we consider opinion polls to understand the strength of domestic support for the EEA Agreement, and whether that support has changed as a consequence of Brexit. We thereafter look for political entrepreneurs or political change agents, in political parties, in interest groups, and among civil society activists. We find that Brexit has not served as a benchmark. It has not set in motion efforts to change Norway’s EU affiliation. Opponents diverge on alternatives, although share concerns about what they see as the EU’s neoliberal orientation. The analysis shows that we cannot assess Brexit as a benchmark without paying attention to the sheer size and magnitude of the EU–Norway power asymmetry. Keywords: benchmark theory; Brexit; EEA Agreement; European Union; Norway Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:79-89 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Ordinary Legislative Procedure in a Post-Brexit EU: The Case of Social Europe File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3704 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3704 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 69-78 Author-Name: Paul Copeland Author-Workplace-Name: School of Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary Univeristy of London, UK Abstract: This article assesses the political and power dynamics of the Ordinarily Legislative Procedure (OLP) in social Europe and the likely impact of the UK’s departure in the field for future integration. It provides a detailed analysis of the OLP in social Europe during two recent periods of integration in the field—the first Barroso Commission (2004–2009) and the Juncker Commission (2014–2019). It finds the dynamics of the OLP have shifted from intergovernmental deadlock during the Barroso Commission to the characteristics of a new intergovernmental core state power during the Juncker Commission, even though the policy area is not a core state power per se. Despite the use of qualified majority voting policy agreements can only be achieved when there is near unanimity support in the Council, the Commission remains a neutral broker, and the Parliament shifts its position to that of the Council. As a result, continued opposition to integration in social Europe by Northern and Eastern Members means the removal of UK political agency will have only a marginal impact on the slow and piecemeal approach to integration in the field. Keywords: Community Method; intergovernmentalism; ordinary legislative procedure; post-Brexit; social Europe Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:69-78 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Post-Brexit Leadership in European Finance File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3705 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3705 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 59-68 Author-Name: Sven Van Kerckhoven Author-Workplace-Name: Vesalius College, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium / Institute for European Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium Abstract: Brexit has far-reaching consequences for Europe and the European single market for financial transactions. In particular in this field, the UK has had a strong influence in drafting European policies and legislation as the City of London has acted as the financial hub in Europe for several decades. As a result, the UK has spearheaded the call for more market friendly legislation with the support of some other EU member states. This went against the wishes of several other EU member states, where a stronger rule-based approach to financial markets was strongly preferred, in particular after the financial crisis clearly demonstrated weaknesses in the macroeconomic oversight of European financial markets. With the UK leaving, the call for more stringent legislation will gain momentum as the political leadership among the remaining 27 EU member states will shift and might be looking to curtail the long-standing dominant position of the UK in the field of financial industries. In this light, several leaders of EU27 member states have already voiced their support for their nations’ financial hub to become the next City of London. This would lead to a substantial change in leadership in European finance post-Brexit. This contribution assesses the impact of Brexit on the changes in political leadership on the governance of European financial markets, as they might ultimately be reflected in the institutional outcomes and policies. Keywords: Brexit; European Union; finance; Frankfurt; Paris; political culture; political leadership Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:59-68 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: An Old Couple in a New Setting: Franco-German Leadership in the Post-Brexit EU File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3645 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3645 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 48-58 Author-Name: Ulrich Krotz Author-Workplace-Name: European University Institute, Italy Author-Name: Lucas Schramm Author-Workplace-Name: European University Institute, Italy Abstract: What are the implications of Brexit for the nature, role, and potential of Franco-German leadership in the EU? Brexit, we contend, is both an expression and a further cause of two broader underlying developments in the contemporary EU: First, a stronger and more prominent German part and position, and second, disintegrative tendencies in several EU policy fields and the EU polity as a whole. This, in turn, has major implications for Franco-German bilateralism and for Franco-German leadership in the EU. In light of a stronger Germany, a relatively weaker France, and significant centrifugal forces, the two largest EU member states must not only realign their bilateral relationship but must also act as a stabilizer in and for the EU. We show that during the EU’s recent crises, not least during the Brexit negotiations and the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, France and Germany did exercise joint leadership. We also show, however, that major discrepancies persist between the two countries in particular policy fields and with regard to longer-term European objectives. Brexit, with its numerous calamities and implications, thus once again moves Franco-German leadership—and its shortcomings—to center stage in Europe. When it comes to leadership in the EU, there remains no viable alternative to the Franco-German duo. Yet, in order to provide constructive leadership and successfully shape the EU, the two countries must bridge substantial differences and be ready to carry disproportionately high burdens. Keywords: bilateralism; Brexit; Covid-19; EU; France; Germany; leadership Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:48-58 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Lobbying Brexit Negotiations: Who Lobbies Michel Barnier? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3666 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3666 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 37-47 Author-Name: David Coen Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, University College London, UK Author-Name: Alexander Katsaitis Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Government, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK Abstract: Interest groups have a vital role in international negotiations and carry the potential to influence their outcome. This article contributes to discussions surrounding Brexit and institutional change in the EU, focusing on Article 50 negotiations and stakeholder engagement. Drawing from theories on deliberative democracy and institutional legitimacy, we argue that different groups are given access to the Chief Negotiator depending on the resources they can contribute. Assessing our expectations, we inspect the entire interest group population that held meetings with Michel Barnier and his team from 2016 onwards. On the aggregate, we observe a pluralist approach. A closer inspection reveals a tightly knit circle of insiders that hold unparalleled access. To the extent that these meetings offer a glance into the future of EU lobbying, European trade and professional associations are likely to observe growing cohesion and significance. Conversely, UK private interests will see their presence and influence diluted as their relevance grows smaller in Brussels. Following the trends we observe, think tanks and socioeconomic interests are likely to experience a continuous surge in their involvement in stakeholder activities. Keywords: Article 50; Brexit; European Union; interest groups; lobbying; pluralism Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:37-47 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: A Knot Not to Be Cut? The Legacy of Brexit over the CJEU File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3660 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3660 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 27-36 Author-Name: Marta Simoncini Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Sciences, Luiss University, Italy Author-Name: Giuseppe Martinico Author-Workplace-Name: DIRPOLIS, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Italy Abstract: What was the role of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in the Brexit saga? And what will the impact of Brexit be over the future structure and activity of the CJEU? This article deals with this twofold question and explores three different issues. Firstly, we will offer a reflection on the questions and the risks raised by the Wightman case, where the CJEU ruled on the unilateral revocation of the UK notification of its intention to withdraw from the European Union under Art. 50 Treaty of the EU. Secondly, we will analyse the impact of Brexit on the composition of the CJEU and, particularly, the risks for the independence of the Court raised by the advanced termination of the mandate of the British Advocate General. Thirdly, we will provide some insights on the scope of the jurisdiction of the CJEU in the post-Brexit Union, emphasising how the Withdrawal Agreement maintained its jurisdiction during and even beyond the transition period. This article reflects the events that took place up to 6 October 2020. Keywords: Advocate General; Brexit; Court of Justice of the European Union; EU law; interpretation; post-Brexit EU Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:27-36 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Managing Disintegration: How the European Parliament Responded and Adapted to Brexit File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3684 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3684 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 16-26 Author-Name: Edoardo Bressanelli Author-Workplace-Name: Dirpolis Institute, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Italy Author-Name: Nicola Chelotti Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Diplomacy and International Governance, Loughborough University London, UK Author-Name: Wilhelm Lehmann Author-Workplace-Name: Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Italy Abstract: Brexit makes both a direct and an indirect impact on the European Parliament (EP). The most direct consequence is the withdrawal of the 73-member strong UK contingent and the changing size of the political groups. Yet, the impact of Brexit is also felt in more oblique ways. Focussing on the role and influence of the EP in the EU–UK negotiations, and of the British delegation in the EP, this article shows that the process, and not just the outcome of Brexit, has significant organisational implications for the EP and its political groups. Moreover, it also showcases the importance of informal rules and norms of behaviour, which were affected by Brexit well ahead of any formal change to the UK status as a Member State. The EP and its leadership ensured the active involvement of the EP in the negotiating process—albeit in different ways for the withdrawal agreement and the future relationship—and sought to minimise the costs of Brexit, reducing the clout of British members particularly in the allocation of legislative reports. Keywords: Brexit; European Parliament; European Union; MEPs; negotiations; trade Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:16-26 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Explaining Cooperation in the Council of the EU Before and After the Brexit Referendum File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3709 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3709 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 5-15 Author-Name: Markus Johansson Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Political Science, Centre for European Research, University of Gothenburg, Sweden Abstract: This article focuses on the impact of the UK’s decision to leave the EU on cooperation within the Council of the EU. It does so by studying how cooperation between member states has changed from the period before the Brexit referendum to the period after. In the emerging literature on Brexit, it has been highlighted that member states that have been close partners to the UK will have to (and have started to) adjust their cooperation behaviour and form new alliances. While the structure of cooperation in the Council is often understood to be stable over time, suggesting that cooperation is mainly driven by structurally determined preferences that don’t easily change, a major event such as Brexit may force remaining member states to restructure their cooperation behaviour. Accordingly, it is expected and tested whether less structurally determined preferences have grown in importance for shaping patterns of cooperation in the immediate period following the Brexit referendum. Using survey data based on interviews with member state negotiators to the Council, asking about their network ties, compiled both in the period before and after Brexit referendum of 2016, it is shown that structurally determined preferences are important in both periods and that more volatile ideologically-based preferences on the EU integration dimension and GAL-TAN dimension have become important following the referendum. The article is informative both for those interested in the effects of Brexit on EU institutions, as well as those more generally interested in causes of cooperation patterns in the Council. Keywords: Brexit; cooperation; Council of the EU; European Union; network analysis Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:5-15 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Assessing What Brexit Means for Europe: Implications for EU Institutions and Actors File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3982 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3982 Journal: Politics and Governance Volume: 9 Year: 2021 Issue: 1 Pages: 1-4 Author-Name: Edoardo Bressanelli Author-Workplace-Name: Dirpolis Institute, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Italy Author-Name: Nicola Chelotti Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Diplomacy and International Governance, Loughborough University London, UK Abstract: With the signing of the EU–UK trade and cooperation agreement in December 2020, the configurations of Brexit have started to become clearer. The first consequences of the UK’s decision to leave the EU have become visible, both in the UK and in the EU. This thematic issue focuses on a relatively under-researched aspect of Brexit—what the UK withdrawal has meant and means for the EU. Using new empirical data and covering most (if not all) of the post-2016 referendum period, it provides a first overall assessment of the impact of Brexit on the main EU institutions, institutional rules and actors. The articles in the issue reveal that EU institutions and actors changed patterns of behaviour and norms well before the formal exit of the UK in January 2020. They have adopted ‘counter-measures’ to cope with the challenges of the UK withdrawal—be it new organizational practices in the Parliament, different network dynamics in the Council of the EU or the strengthening of the Franco-German partnership. In this sense, the Union has—so far—shown significant resilience in the wake of Brexit. Keywords: Brexit; Council of the EU; Court of Justice; European Parliament; institutional change; interest groups; negotiations; Norway; United Kingdom Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:1-4