Obiettivi formativi
The course aims at providing the students with a wide knowledge of major public policies pursued at
the EU and national levels. For the different policies, the course will analyse the key institutional
structures and policies pursued, as well as changes in these, comparing across polities and over time. The course will also analyse how different national systems adapt to supranational and international
developments.
Prerequisiti
BA in political science or related field
Risultati di apprendimento attesi
Knowledge and understanding:
The course will offer key theoretical tools to compare public policies. This course provides advanced
knowledge and analytical resources that will enable students to understand the processes, content
and consequences of different policies across countries, their similarities and differences in the
context of European and international developments.
Applying knowledge and understanding:
The students will be able to:
apply institutionalist models to cross-national comparative case studies of policy making
such as economic policy, alteration of governance structures and Europeanisation;
examine major public policies through comparing across countries in Europe as well as
the EU level
look at how institutions shape, constrain and enable policy making, including policy
change and inertia
Making judgements:
We expect students to be able to analyze public policy and governance models to demonstrate an indepth,
critical understanding of the scope and challenges of public policies.
They are expected to be able to discuss and evaluate key policy initiatives and development in the EU
and its member states.
Throughout the whole course, students will be invited to critically analyse when, how and why certain
policies are pursued.
Communications Skills:
This course will give the students the possibility to acquire and understand major terms and concepts
in order to communicate their ideas, proposals, analysis and critical reasoning in the field of public
policy in the most effective and appropriate way.
Learning skills:
This course will contribute to empower learners giving them the tools to determine why certain public
policies are followed and others are not and to evaluate explanatory the models in an independent
way.
Contenuti Del Corso
The course focuses on the reality of several public policies in several European countries,
offering information about the current discussion in the literature on public policy analysis at different
levels of government (European, national, regional and local) and its mutual relationships and
interactions. It looks at their types, dynamics, external and internal determinants, change and reform,
outcomes and its changing contents in issues like economic, social or environmental policies across
several countries. Major issues will include ‘rationality’ in public policy making, why policies are
changed or persist and the interactions between the EU and national levels of policy making.
Testi Di Riferimento
Dodds, A (2nd ed 2018), Comparative Public Policy (Macmillan)
Schmidt, VA and Thatcher, M (eds) (2013), Resilient Liberalism in Europe’s Political Economy
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
Most readings are available via LUISS on-line subscriptions. Other articles and papers in the
syllabus will be uploaded on the course’s web page.
Metodologie Didattiche
Lectures and presentations on relevant empirical issues. Students’ participation during lectures is
strongly encouraged and will be considered in the final assessment.
Modalità di verifica dell'apprendimento
30%- mid-term written exam;
20% presentations
20% in actual debate
20% participation in discussions
[we take the 2 BEST grades of these 3 sets of activities]
30%- final exam- an unseen exam, at the end of the course covering
the whole course programme with 2 questions.
Students not attending the course will have to answer 3 exam questions.
Debate and presentation groups and topics will be assigned. The presentation will be made at the following class or the one after as set out in the syllabus above (e.g. the presentation in week 7 refers to the topic examined in class in week 6, while that for week 6 refers to the class topic of week 4 CHECK THE PRESENTATION TOPIC LIST ABOVE AND ASK THE TA IF ANY DOUBTS.
Criteri per l’assegnazione dell’elaborato finale
28 or higher in this course and others; suitable topic and clear research question
Settimana 1
Introduction to the course and key concepts Different approaches to comparative public policy
Key readings
Hall P. A. and Taylor, R. C. R. (1996) ‘Political Science and the Three New Institutionalisms’. Political Studies 44(4): 936-57.
Dodds, A (2nd ed 2018), Comparative Public Policy (Macmillan), chs 4-6 for overview of institutions, interests and ideas as explanations
VA Schmidt (2008), ‘Discursive Institutionalism: The Explanatory Power of Ideas and Discourse’, Annual Review of Political Science, Vol. 11, pp. 303-326
Further reading
Kamkhaji, J and Radaelli, C (2022), ‘Don’t think it’s a good idea! Four building sites of the ‘ideas school’’, West European Politics 45(4): 841-62
Di Maggio, WW and PJ Powell (1991), 'Introduction' and ‘The Iron Cage Revisited’ in Powell, WW and Di Maggio (eds) The New Institutionalism in Organizational analysis.
Orfeo Fioretos, Tulia G. Falleti, and Adam Sheingate (2016), ‘Historical Institutionalism in Political Science’, in The Oxford Handbook of Historical Institutionalism, Edited by Orfeo Fioretos, Tulia G. Falleti, and Adam Sheingate
Iversen, T and Soskice, DW (2019), Democracy and Prosperity: The Reinvention of Capitalism in a Turbulent Century (Princeton University Press)- a big book, so read what you can
Schmidt, VA (2009) ‘Putting Politics Back into the Political Economy by Bringing the State Back in Yet Again’, World Politics 61(3): 516-548.
Smith, Andy (2016) The Politics of Economic Activity – OUP, esp chs 1, 2 and 5
Hall, PA (1986), Governing the Economy (Oxford: Polity), chs 1,9 and 10
Settimana 2
Debate: Can the spread of neo-liberalism be explained just by the personal interests of politicians and large firms? 1 group for and 1 against
Topic of lectures and debates: What is neo-liberalism and how does it differ from social democracy
Key readings:
Schmidt, VA and Thatcher, M (eds) (2013), Resilient Liberalism in Europe’s Political Economy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)- chs 1 and 14
Jessop, B (2014): A specter is haunting Europe: a neoliberal phantasmagoria, Critical Policy Studies, DOI: 10.1080/19460171.2014.944368
Dodds, A (2nd ed 2018), Comparative Public Policy (Macmillan), ch 8
Further reading
Crouch, C (2011), The Strange Non-Death of Neo-liberalism (Cambridge: Polity) ch 1
For brief discussions of key concepts, Matthew Eagleton-Pierce Neoliberalism: The Key Concepts, Routledge 2016
Settimana 3
Topic of lectures and debate: State ownership, privatization and the spread of liberal institutions
Mock debate: Has the spread of privatization in Europe been driven mainly by ideas? (1 group for, and 2nd against)
Key reading
Feigenbaum, H and Henig, J (1994), 'The Political Underpinnings of Privatisation. A Typology', World Politics 46(2), p.185-208.
[NB use mainly for the typology- the empirical material is now dated]
Clifton, Judith; Comín, Francisco; Díaz Fuentes, Daniel (2006), Privatizing public enterprises in the European Union 1960-2002: ideological, pragmatic, inevitable? Journal of European Public Policy, 13(5): 736-756
Cumbers, A., Traill, H. (2021). Public Ownership in the Pursuit of Economic Democracy in a Post-Neoliberal Order. In: Arestis, P., Sawyer, M. (eds) Economic Policies for a Post-Neoliberal World. International Papers in Political Economy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56735-4_6
Further reading
On SOEs- Andrea Colli (2023) ‘State Capitalism in Western Europe’ in Wright, Mike et al (eds), The Oxford Handbook of State Capitalism and the Firm, Oxford Handbooks (2022; online edn, Oxford Academic, 19 Dec. 2022), https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198837367.001.0001
Obinger, H, Schmitt, C and Zohlnhöfer, R (2014), ‘Partisan politics and privatization in OECD countries’, Comparative Political Studies, 47(9): 1294—1323
Simmons, B and Elkins, Z. (2004). ‘The Globalization of Liberalization: Policy Diffusion in the International Political Economy’, American Political Science Review, 98/1: 171–89.
Thatcher, M (2007), Internationalisation and Economic Institutions (Oxford: OUP), Introduction and chs 1 and 13
Streeck W and Thelen, K (2005), ‘Introduction: Institutional change in advanced industrialized economies’ in Streeck W, KA Thelen (eds), Beyond Continuity: Institutional Change in Advanced Political Economies, Oxford, Oxford University Press
Settimana 4
Topic of lectures and debate: The regulatory state
Debate: the regulatory state model is dominant in Europe today – 1 group for and 1 against
Key reading
Majone, G (1997), ‘From the Positive to the Regulatory State: Causes and Consequences of Changes in the Mode of Governance’, Journal of Public Policy, 17(2), 139-68 and then 2016, The Evolution of the regulatory state’ in Routledge Handbook of Risk Studies, edited by Adam Burgess, Alberto Alemanno, Jens Zinn
Cyril Benoît (2019), ‘The new political economy of regulation’, French Politics17:482–499 [overview of approaches to economic regulation]
Further reading
Baldwin, R, Cave, M, and Lodge, M (2012), Understanding Regulation, ch 4
Stigler, G.J. (1971) ‘The Theory of Economic Regulation’, Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science 2(1): 3-21.
Peltzman, S (1976), ‘Towards a more general theory of regulation’, Journal of Law and Economics 19: 211-40
Settimana 5
Topic of lectures and discussion: Delegation to non-majoritarian institutions and Independent Regulatory Agencies (IRAs)
DEBATE- TITLES to be given at class
Key reading
Thatcher, M and Stone Sweet, A (2002), -‘Theory and Practice of Delegation to Non-Majoritarian Institutions, West European Politics 25(1)
Settimana 6
Student presentations: each group- privatization in one sector comparing two countries
Topic of lectures and discussions: Delegation to non-majoritarian institutions and Independent Regulatory Agencies (IRAs)
Key reading
Thatcher, M -‘Delegation to Independent Regulatory Agencies: Pressures, Functions and Contextual Mediation’, West European Politics 25(1), pp.125-47.
Rangoni, B., & Thatcher, M. (2023). National de-delegation in multi-level settings: Independent regulatory agencies in Europe. Governance, 36(1): 81-103, published online https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12722
Martino Maggetti, Fabrizio Di Mascio and Alessandro Natalini(2022), ‘Introduction to the Handbook of Regulatory
Authorities’, https://iris.unito.it/bitstream/2318/1887439/1/Introduction%20Handbook%20Regulatory%20Authorities.pdf
Further reading
Mattia Guidi (2016), ‘Do parties matter in delegation? Partisan preferences and the creation of regulatory agencies in Europe’, Regulation and Governance 10, Issue 3: 211–229
Gilardi, F. (2005) ‘The Institutional Foundations of Regulatory Capitalism: The Diffusion of Independent Regulatory Agencies in Western Europe’. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 598: 84-101
Settimana 7
Student presentations: compare the creation of one major Independent regulatory authority in two countries, followed by discussion and debate
Topic of lectures and discussion: Industrial Policy
Key reading
- Thatcher, M (2014), ‘From old to new industrial policy via economic regulation’, Revista della Regolazione dei Mercati 2 (2014): 6-22. (NB see comment/debate article- Tullio Fanelli ‘Politica industriale e regolazione in margine al saggio di M. Thatcher, From old to new industrial policy via economic regulation’, Revista della Regolazione dei Mercati (2015: 2): 269-287
Bulfone, F (2019), ‘The State Strikes Back: Industrial policy, regulatory power and the divergent performance of Telefonica and Telecom Italia’, Journal of European Public Policy 26:5, 752-771
Bulfone, F (2023), ‘Industrial policy and comparative
political economy: A literature
review and research agenda’,
Competition & Change 27(1) 22–43 [literature review]
Further reading
Ben Clift & Cornelia Woll (2012) ‘Economic patriotism: reinventing control over open markets’, Journal of European Public Policy, 19:3, 307-323
Jonah Levy (2017), ‘The return of the state? France’s response to the financial and economic crisis’, Comparative European Politics, 15, Issue 4, pp 604–627
Settimana 8
Mid-term exam
Topic of lectures and discussion: Varieties of capitalism
Key reading
Hall, PA and Soskice, DW eds. (2001) Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ch 1 by Hall/Soskice.
O’Sullivan, M (2005), ‘Typologies, ideologies and realities of capitalism’, Socio-Economic Review 3: 547-558
Richard Deeg and Gregory Jackson (2007), ‘Towards a more dynamic theory of capitalist variety’, Socio economic Review 5: 181-196
Independent central banks
Geoffrey T Wood and Matthew MC Allen (2020) ‘Comparing Capitalisms:
Debates, Controversies and
Future Directions’, Sociology
54(3) 482–500 [overview of the development of debates]
Further reading
Hancké, R, Rhodes, M and Thatcher, M (2007), Beyond Varieties of Capitalism (OUP 2007), esp Introduction
Hall, PA (2018), ‘Varieties of capitalism in light of the euro crisis’, Journal of European Public Policy 25:7-30
Howell, C (2003), ‘Varieties of Capitalism. And then There was One?’ Comparative Politics October: 103-24
Gregory Jackson & Richard Deeg (2012) ‘The long-term trajectories
of institutional change in European capitalism’, Journal of European Public Policy, 19:8,
1109-1125 (and for specific countries, other articles in the special issue)
Settimana 9
Student presentations: compare public policies towards promoting former national champion in the same sector in 2 major European countries, followed by discussion and debate
Topic of lectures and discussion: Network industries and internationalization
Key reading
Clifton, Judith - Diaz-Fuentes, Daniel - Revuelta, Julio (2010), ‘The political economy of telecoms and electricity internationalization in the single market’ Journal of European Public Policy 17(7): 988
Andrea Colli, Sergio Mariotti & Lucia Piscitello (2014) Governments as strategists in designing global players: the case of European utilities, Journal of European Public Policy, 21:4, 487-508
MariottiS and R Marzano (2019), ‘Varieties of capitalism and the internationalization of state-owned enterprises’, Journal of International Business Studies 50: 669–691
Further reading
Marco Di Giulio & Francesco Niccolò Moro (2016) The Internationalization of Network Industries: A Comparative Policy Analysis of Italian Railways and Utilities, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 18:1, 21-37
Bulfone, F. (2020), ‘New forms of industrial policy in the age of regulation: A comparison of electricity and telecommunications in Italy and Spain.’ Governance 33(1): 93-108
Settimana 10
Student presentation: compare policies towards aiding two major former monopolists to internationalize in the same network sector in two different countries, followed by discussion and debate
Topic of lectures and discussion Cultural Heritage policies in Europe
Key reading
Thatcher, M (2018), - State production of cultural nationalism: political leaders and preservation policies for historic buildings in France and Italy’, Nations and Nationalism 24 (1), 2018, 64–87.
Swenson, A 2018, Historic Preservation, the State and Nationalism in Britain, Nations and Nationalism 24(1)
Mark Thatcher & Monica Garcia Quesada (2023): Differentiated
implementation and European integration: the development of EU food quality labelling, West
European Politics, DOI: 10.1080/01402382.2023.2202586
Further reading
J Pendlebury (2015), ‘Heritage and policy’,- The Palgrave handbook of contemporary heritage ., 2015 – Springer, available at http://orcp.hustoj.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ebook-2015-The-Palgrave-Handbook-of-Contemporary-Heritage-Research.pdf#page=450
Marco Causi, Culture and economy after COVID-19: selected topics for public discussion, in "Economia della Cultura, Rivista trimestrale dell'Associazione per l'Economia della Cultura" 1/2021, pp. 77-86, doi: 10.1446/101670
Swenson, A. 2013. The Rise of Heritage. Preserving the Past in France, Germany and England, 1789–1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Settimana 11
Student presentations: Compare the development of one major piece of legislation to protect historic buildings after 1945 in two European countries
Lecture- reconsideration of neo-liberalism
Key reading
Schmidt, VA and Thatcher, M (eds) (2013), Resilient Liberalism in Europe’s Political Economy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)- ch 14
Vivien Schmidt (2022), ‘The power of ideas in capitalist transformations: Is the resilience of neo-liberalism finally coming to an end?’, Stato e Mercato 40(1): 3-29