Project description
A closer look at independent regulators for democratic politics
Throughout history, independent regulators designed to ‘depoliticise’ public policy issues have evolved. However, many questions remain. Are these bodies compatible with democratic politics? How do these institutions withstand the pressure to ‘politicise’ the issues after their creation? The EU-funded POLREG project will find answers by examining how and under what conditions independent regulators are likely to prove stable. It will develop a theoretical framework focusing on the restriction of public service provision. The project will then test the framework through a cross-sectoral, cross-national comparative research design, by examining the evolution of rationing regulation in the healthcare, housing and energy sectors in England, France and Japan in the past 30 years.
Objective
POLREG, hosted by Sciences Po’s Centre d’études européennes et de politique compare, provides a comparative analysis on the processes of, and the conditions for, the evolution of independent regulators designed to “depoliticise” public policy issues. While the creation of such bodies has raised the question of their compatibility with democratic politics, little is known about to what extent and how these institutions withstand the pressure to “politicise” the issues after their creation. POLREG address this gap by examining how and under what conditions independent regulators are likely to prove stable. It focuses on rationing, i.e. the restriction of public service provision, a crucial test for the durability of regulators facing political pressures. POLREG develops a theoretical framework for the political struggles over the maintenance of regulatory institutions; it assesses the utility of the framework through a cross-sectoral, cross-national comparative research design, by examining the evolution of rationing regulation in the healthcare, housing, and energy sectors in England, France and Japan in the past three decades. Combining the original datasets of the politicisation of regulation and policy responses with qualitative data such as documents and interviews, it provides a fine-grained analysis of regulatory trajectories. Through the analysis POLREG seeks to advance a more nuanced understanding of the implication of independent regulators for democratic politics. Challenging the prevailing notion that assume a linear trajectory of depoliticised regulators, it seeks to highlight how sectoral and national contexts shape the divergent pathways of regulatory politics. The project’s outputs are presented as three journal article manuscripts, a book proposal, international conference presentations, and the organisation of international workshops involving both academics and policy-makers.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences political sciences political policies public policies
- social sciences sociology governance public services
- social sciences political sciences government systems democracy
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
75341 Paris
France
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.