Project description DEENESFRITPL 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. Show the project objective Hide the project objective 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 social sciencespolitical sciencespolitical policiespublic policiessocial sciencessociologygovernancepublic servicessocial sciencespolitical sciencesgovernment systemsdemocracy Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2020 - Individual Fellowships Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2020 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF Coordinator FONDATION NATIONALE DES SCIENCES POLITIQUES Net EU contribution € 184 707,84 Address RUE SAINT GUILLAUME 27 75341 Paris France See on map Region Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Paris Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 184 707,84
