lecture 4

Question 1

Three governmental powers EU (Trias Politica)

Answer 1

1. Legislative power – Making laws and regulations / changing laws and regulations
   * European Parliament
   * European Council
2. Executive power – Implementing and enforcing laws and regulations; proposing laws and regulations
3. Judicial power – Deciding over disputes; interpreting laws and regulations

Question 2

Which factors influence European law making?

Answer 2

Lobbying (can play a large role). When looking at the text at versluis, he says that lobbying isn’t always as important. There are some situations in which lobbying has more importance than other situations ➞ issue saliance (yes it can be depending on how important a topic is, but Chalmers also mentions the issue of regulatory things.)

It depends = moral of the story

Question 3

why do some topics and solutions get political attention/priority and how/why do political agendas change?

Answer 3

First step is getting something on the political agenda. Preventing something from getting on the agenda can therefore also be a big thing on power.

➞ media is very important in this first step. if there is a lot of media concentration, then people perceive those things as being important

Question 4

framing: how a topic gets on the agenda

Answer 4

It depends on how a topic is viewed. It can be the same topic but different outcomes.
- Coal plants as an issue = less plants
- Coal plants as a cheap alternative for oil = more plants

language and terminology also matters

Question 5

policy frames (and the parts it plays)

Answer 5

Policy frame = “organising principle that transforms fragmentary or incidental information into a structured and meaningful problem, in which a solution is implicitly or explicitly included”

policy frames has two parts:
1. Diagnosis of the problem and what causes it
2. Possible solutions and strategies (prognosis)

Question 6

Factors influencing position member states in Duina & Kurzer text

Answer 6

National level
* Existing policies (fit/unfit)
* Internal power position government
* Current government (social democrats vs conservatives)
* Tradition – legal culture
European level
* Relational power position vis-a-vis other MS (Spain-Germany)
* Competing policy frames (internal market, public health, personal freedom)
International level
* International developments (WHO)
* Medical knowledge
Factors influencing position member states in Duina & Kurzer

Question 7

Factors in European Law Making according to Duina & Kurzer text

Answer 7

• Fit with existing policies and approach to the issue in different Member States (including economic interests)
• International development (academic and medical knowledge on dangers of smoking)

Question 8

Questions for frame analysis policy documents Verloo & Lombardo

Answer 8

General
- What kind of text is this? Who wrote this?
- What is the aim of the text?
Voice
- Voice(s) speaking? Absent voices?
- Perspective
Diagnosis
- What is represented as the problem?
- Why is it seen as a problem?
Prognosis
- What to do? By whom?
- How to achieve goals (strategy/means/instruments)?
- Call for action and non-action (who should [not] do what?)
Normativity
- What is seen as good?
- What is seen as bad?