Balancing Pressures: The Politics of Governing the European Economy

Description

Balancing Pressures analyses how the economy, national politics, and supranational politics shape economic policymaking in the European Union. Economic theories alert policymakers of the problems associated with policy initiatives. Economic uncertainties shape political positioning during negotiations, while actual economic conditions affect both negotiations and implementation. National pressures to win office and pursue policies systematically influence negotiating positions, implementation patterns, and outcomes. Supranational pressures are associated with membership in the euro area, the expected and actual patterns of compliance, or the context of negotiations. Spanning the period of 1994 to 2019, this book analyses how these pressures shaped the definition of the policy problems, the controversies surrounding policy reforms, the outcome, timing, and direction of reforms, the negotiations over preventive surveillance, the compliance with recommendations, and the use and effectiveness of the procedure to correct excessive fiscal deficits. It concludes by assessing the effectiveness, fairness, and responsiveness of the policy.

• Presents a theoretical framework for understanding economic policymaking in the European Union, demonstrating how politicians balance pressures arising from the economy, national politics, and supranational politics in the definition of the policy problems, the formulation of policy alternatives, the choice of policy options, and the implementation of executive measures
• Spans the entire policy cycle, from 1994 to 2019, analysing each stage of the cycle including negotiations over policy reforms and compliance with the executive measures
• Employs and combines a variety of theories and methods from international relations, comparative politics, and political economy, showcasing the complementarity and usefulness of the rich tapestry of sophisticated analytical and methodological tools that political scientists and political economists have developed