Volume 18, 2016 Issue #5 – Policy Analysis in Times of Austerity: Puzzling in the Shadow of Powering?

Policy Analysis in Times of Austerity: Puzzling in the Shadow of Powering?

Authors: Frans K.M. van Nispen, Peter W.A. Scholten

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Taking Care of Policy in Times of Crisis: Comparative Lessons from Belgium’s Longest Caretaker Government

Author Barbara Vis & Valérie PattynGeert Bouckaert

Subjects: crisis, , , , policy change, caretaker government, Belgium

Abstract: When the financial crisis hit the Eurozone, Belgium, along with several other countries, postponed its consolidation policies until after the general elections. What followed was the longest caretaker rule that any stable democracy had ever experienced. This article analyses the phenomenon of policy continuity and change during this double crisis. It illustrates how the exogenous economic crisis overrode the endogenous political crisis, showing the extent to which international policy determinants expanded the remit of caretaker policy-making. At the same time, our analysis of the nature of caretaker conventions, the nature of multi-level governance, the permanence of administrative personnel, and the re-invention of parliament offers opportunities to draw lessons and deepen comparative research on policy termination and maintenance in the face of crisis.

Powering over Puzzling? Downsizing the Public Sector during the Greek Sovereign Debt Crisis

Author: Nikolaos Zahariadis

Abstract: Can policy learning take place amidst a crisis with stark distributive consequences? Using the case of downsizing the public sector during the Greek sovereign debt crisis (2009–2013), this article applies the policy design framework by Schneider and Ingram to find that when policies are conceived and designed abroad, powering explains policy change. However, evidence also uncovers policy learning in powering’s “home ground”. Highlighting issues of social construction, political contestation, and external pressure during crises, the study has implications for theories of policy design and learning.

Powering over Puzzling? Downsizing the Public Sector during the Greek Sovereign Debt Crisis

Author: Nikolaos Zahariadis

Abstract: Can policy learning take place amidst a crisis with stark distributive consequences? Using the case of downsizing the public sector during the Greek sovereign debt crisis (2009–2013), this article applies the policy design framework by Schneider and Ingram to find that when policies are conceived and designed abroad, powering explains policy change. However, evidence also uncovers policy learning in powering’s “home ground”. Highlighting issues of social construction, political contestation, and external pressure during crises, the study has implications for theories of policy design and learning.

The Global Financial Crisis in Comparative Perspective: Have Policy Makers “Learnt Their Lessons”?

Author: Menno Fenger & Lucia Quaglia

Subjects: financial regulation, comparative political communication, financial crisis, policy learning, advocacy coalitions

Abstract:Have policy makers “learnt their lesson” from the global financial crisis that began in 2007? This article addresses this question by examining the regulatory responses to the global financial crisis in the European Union, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Theoretically, the article is informed by an advocacy coalition approach to policy change and learning. Methodologically, it process-traces regulatory and supervisory changes in the selected jurisdictions, identifying the main coalitions at play, their belief systems, policy learning across coalitions and within coalitions, as well as the conditions that promoted or slowed down learning. Some of the findings can be generalised to other countries and policy areas.

Anna Grzymała-Busse, Nations under God: How Churches Use Moral Authority to Influence Policy

Author : Michael Minkenberg

Lina Svedin, Ethics and Risk Management

Author : Dr. Wen-Jiun Wang

JCPA Reviewers 2016