Eva Thomann - Böcker

Multi-level governance systems like the European Union (EU) calibrate integration with member state discretion in order to implement common, yet context-sensitive solutions to shared policy problems. Research on implementation in the EU typically focuses on legal compliance with EU policy. However, this focus gives us an incomplete picture of EU implementation, its diversity and practice. The contributions of this collection represent a shift toward a more performance-oriented perspective on EU implementation as problem-solving. They approach implementation fundamentally as a process of interpretation of superordinate law by actors who are embedded within multiple contexts arising from the coexistence of dynamics of Europeanization, on the one hand, and what has been termed ‘domestication’, on the other. Moving beyond legal compliance, the contributions provide new evidence on the diversity of domestic responses to EU policy, the roles and motivations of actors implementing EU policy, and the ‘black box’ of EU law in action and its enforcement. By reassessing the relative importance of EU policy and domestic factors and actors for the outcomes of EU implementation, the results give insight into on the nuanced interplay between Europeanization and domestication forces, useful for both EU researchers and practitioners.The chapters originally published as a special issue in the Journal of European Public Policy.

Multi-level governance systems like the European Union (EU) calibrate integration with member state discretion in order to implement common, yet context-sensitive solutions to shared policy problems. Research on implementation in the EU typically focuses on legal compliance with EU policy. However, this focus gives us an incomplete picture of EU implementation, its diversity and practice. The contributions of this collection represent a shift toward a more performance-oriented perspective on EU implementation as problem-solving. They approach implementation fundamentally as a process of interpretation of superordinate law by actors who are embedded within multiple contexts arising from the coexistence of dynamics of Europeanization, on the one hand, and what has been termed ‘domestication’, on the other. Moving beyond legal compliance, the contributions provide new evidence on the diversity of domestic responses to EU policy, the roles and motivations of actors implementing EU policy, and the ‘black box’ of EU law in action and its enforcement. By reassessing the relative importance of EU policy and domestic factors and actors for the outcomes of EU implementation, the results give insight into on the nuanced interplay between Europeanization and domestication forces, useful for both EU researchers and practitioners.The chapters originally published as a special issue in the Journal of European Public Policy.

A comprehensive introduction and teaching resource for state-of-the-art Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) using R software. This guide facilitates the efficient teaching, independent learning, and use of QCA with the best available software, reducing the time and effort required when encountering not just the logic of a new method, but also new software. With its applied and practical focus, the book offers a genuinely simple and intuitive resource for implementing the most complete protocol of QCA. To make the lives of students, teachers, researchers, and practitioners as easy as possible, the book includes learning goals, core points, empirical examples, and tips for good practices. The freely available online material provides a rich body of additional resources to aid users in their learning process. Beyond performing core analyses with the R package QCA, the book also facilitates a close integration with the R package SetMethods allowing for a host of additional protocols for building a more solid and well-rounded QCA.

In multilevel governance systems, member states work together to address cross-border problems, yet people still lack a clear understanding of how and why their policies differ or converge. Existing research offers many explanations but often treats them separately or overstates the EU's independent influence. This Element brings these perspectives together in a single framework of policy dynamics. It distinguishes policy areas shaped mainly by EU institutions or member states, or by their interaction. It introduces an actor-centered typology of policy dynamics - stable patterns of actors, incentives, and mechanisms that shape policy over time. The Element shows that these dynamics matter only when governments, interest groups, and NGOs have the incentives, capacity, and leverage to build coalitions and pursue goals. The policy dynamics framework helps learners identify likely causal mechanisms and supports clearer comparison, explanation, and teaching of EU policymaking. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

In multilevel governance systems, member states work together to address cross-border problems, yet people still lack a clear understanding of how and why their policies differ or converge. Existing research offers many explanations but often treats them separately or overstates the EU's independent influence. This Element brings these perspectives together in a single framework of policy dynamics. It distinguishes policy areas shaped mainly by EU institutions or member states, or by their interaction. It introduces an actor-centered typology of policy dynamics - stable patterns of actors, incentives, and mechanisms that shape policy over time. The Element shows that these dynamics matter only when governments, interest groups, and NGOs have the incentives, capacity, and leverage to build coalitions and pursue goals. The policy dynamics framework helps learners identify likely causal mechanisms and supports clearer comparison, explanation, and teaching of EU policymaking. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

A comprehensive introduction and teaching resource for state-of-the-art Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) using R software. This guide facilitates the efficient teaching, independent learning, and use of QCA with the best available software, reducing the time and effort required when encountering not just the logic of a new method, but also new software. With its applied and practical focus, the book offers a genuinely simple and intuitive resource for implementing the most complete protocol of QCA. To make the lives of students, teachers, researchers, and practitioners as easy as possible, the book includes learning goals, core points, empirical examples, and tips for good practices. The freely available online material provides a rich body of additional resources to aid users in their learning process. Beyond performing core analyses with the R package QCA, the book also facilitates a close integration with the R package SetMethods allowing for a host of additional protocols for building a more solid and well-rounded QCA.

In recent years, a wave of reforms known as ‘nudges’ or ‘behavioural interventions’ have emerged in public policy and administration. ‘Nudge’ policies are created to lightly influence groups in society to change their behaviour, using behavioural insights to solve complex policy problems. Generally, behavioural approaches focus on the psychology underlying the implementation and effects of policies in practice.First published as a special issue of Policy & Politics journal, this book situates these reforms within a broader tradition of methodological individualism. With contributions from international scholars, it demonstrates that when behavioural policies expand their focus beyond the individual, they have the potential to better understand, investigate, and shape social outcomes.

This is an important book for all students of the EU and of policy implementation."—Jeremy Richardson, Co-Editor of the Journal of European Public Policy This book sheds light on the patterns, causes and consequences of the “customization” of European Union (EU) policies.