Eu Labor Market Policy: Ideas, Thought Communities And Policy Change
by A. Schellinger /
2016 / English / PDF
1.4 MB Download
The EU's 'social dimension' today is a product of the ideology of
the 1990s. Its employment field is directed to increase the
employability of workers and the adaptability of labor market
regimes. The book argues that this social-liberal approach is
best explained with a set of ideas strategically advanced by
'thought communities' in the policy process. It traces the
success of this new approach in the debates among academic
experts and policy-makers in the mid-1990s, the decisions leading
to the adoption of the Treaty of Amsterdam, and the establishment
of the approach in the policy field between 1997-2007. The author
explores the processes through which ideas came to matter in the
policy process. At every stage, the claim that ideas played a
predominant role is strengthened by addressing the most viable
alternative explanations such as institutional constraints set by
Economic and Monetary Union and the preferences of political
leaders.
The EU's 'social dimension' today is a product of the ideology of
the 1990s. Its employment field is directed to increase the
employability of workers and the adaptability of labor market
regimes. The book argues that this social-liberal approach is
best explained with a set of ideas strategically advanced by
'thought communities' in the policy process. It traces the
success of this new approach in the debates among academic
experts and policy-makers in the mid-1990s, the decisions leading
to the adoption of the Treaty of Amsterdam, and the establishment
of the approach in the policy field between 1997-2007. The author
explores the processes through which ideas came to matter in the
policy process. At every stage, the claim that ideas played a
predominant role is strengthened by addressing the most viable
alternative explanations such as institutional constraints set by
Economic and Monetary Union and the preferences of political
leaders.
