Cotutelle avec l'Université libre de Bruxelles / Depuis l’adoption de la Directive Qualification en 2004 et de sa refonte en 2011, l’Union européenne reconnaît explicitement les persécutions du fait de l’orientation sexuelle et de l’identité de genre en tant que motif d’octroi du statut de réfugié∙e, selon le critère de l’appartenance à un certain groupe social. Cependant, il existe toujours des différences considérables dans la manière dont les États européens examinent les demandes des personnes invoquant ce type de persécutions, ce qui contrevient à la volonté marquée de l’UE d’atteindre un Régime d’asile européen commun. Dans cette thèse je propose de suivre le processus de fabrique de la nouvelle catégorie de « réfugié∙e LGBTI » en Belgique, en France et au Royaume-Uni afin d’apporter une explication au fait que malgré les pressions d’harmonisation de l’Union européenne, les contours de cette catégorie de réfugié∙es diffèrent d’un État européen à l’autre. M’inscrivant dans la suite des travaux qui proposent d’aborder le processus d’action publique à partir de l’interdépendance entre les institutions et les idées, je suggère d’appréhender la fabrique de la catégorie de « réfugié∙e LGBTI » en tant que processus de traduction multi-niveaux engendré par les logiques positionnelles (institutions) et les logiques interprétatives (idées) d’acteurs en interactions. Pour ce faire, je développe les notions de « configuration des arènes de traduction » et de « paradigme de traduction » qui me permettent de capturer et de suivre les logiques positionnelles et interprétatives des acteurs tout au long du processus de traduction (genèse, stabilisation et verrouillage). La configuration des arènes de traduction correspond à la somme des institutions formelles et informelles qui contraignent les acteurs dans les trois arènes où s’opère la traduction de la catégorie de « réfugié∙e LGBTI » : l’arène administrative, l’arène associative et l’arène judiciaire. Le paradigme de traduction correspond à l’espace de sens à travers lequel les acteurs impliqués dans le processus de traduction interprètent la catégorie de « réfugié∙e LGBTI ». Il est composé de trois éléments : la définition du problème, la solution politique et l’univers de discours. La démarche proposée permet quatre principaux apports, à la fois d’ordre empirique et analytique. D’une part, pour ce qui est des apports empiriques, mon approche permet d’articuler plusieurs niveaux de gouvernement (international, européen et national). Elle permet également d’apporter une profondeur historique à l’analyse. D’autre part, pour ce qui est des apports analytiques, ma démarche permet d’articuler plusieurs niveaux d’analyse (institutions et idées). Elle permet également d’articuler plusieurs temporalités du changement de l’action publique (moyenne et longue). La présente recherche fait deux principales contributions : à la littérature en politiques publiques sur le changement et à celle en études migratoires queer sur l’homonationalisme. D’une part, en proposant de saisir le changement en tant que processus de traduction, ma démarche permet de dépasser les dichotomies latentes entre changements lents et marginaux versus changements radicaux et rapides. Elle permet également de dépasser la dichotomie entre pressions exogènes et pressions endogènes du changement. D’autre part, en prenant au sérieux l’interdépendance entre les institutions et les idées dans la constitution d’une communauté nationale qui intègre les minorités sexuelles, elle suggère de regarder au-delà de l’homonationalisme tel que conceptualisé aujourd’hui pour comprendre la manière dont la frontière entre « nous » et « eux » s’érige. Cette frontière n’est pas la même d’un État à l’autre et se révèle être peu stable, évoluant d’une phase à l’autre du processus d’action publique. Une telle perspective propose ainsi une troisième voie analytique qui se distingue d’une part des tenants du discours de la libération sexuelle et d’autre part de ceux de l’impérialisme sexuel. / Since the adoption of the Qualification Directive in 2004 and its recast in 2011, the European Union has explicitly recognized persecutions on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity as a ground for granting refugee status, according to the criterion of membership of a particular social group. However, there are still considerable differences in the way European states deal with applications from those who claim this kind of persecution, which goes against the EU’s strong desire to achieve a Common European Asylum System. This dissertation follows the “fabrique” of the new category of “LGBTI refugee” in Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom. It provides an explanation for the fact that in spite of pressures to harmonize the European Union, the contours of this category of refugees differ from one European state to another. Following an approach that focuses on the public policy process with an emphasis on the interdependence between institutions and ideas, I suggest apprehending the “fabrique” of the category of “LGBTI refugee” as a multi-level translation process, generated by the logics-of-positions (institutions) and the logics-of interpretations (ideas) of actors in interactions. To this aim, I develop the notions of “configuration of translation arenas” and of “translation paradigm” which allow me to capture and follow the positional and interpretative logics of actors throughout the translation process (genesis, stabilization and lock-in). The configuration of the translation arenas corresponds to the sum of the formal and informal institutions that constrain actors in the three arenas where the translation of the category of “LGBTI refugee” takes place: the administrative arena, the associative arena and the judicial arena. The translation paradigm corresponds to the space of meaning through which the actors involved in the translation process interpret the category of “LGBTI refugee”. It is composed of three elements: the problem definition, the political solution, and the discursive universe. The proposed approach gives rise to four main contributions, both empirical and analytical. On the one hand, in terms of empirical contributions, this approach allows for the articulation of several levels of government (international, European, and national). It also provides historical depth to the analysis. On the other hand, with regard to the analytical inputs, this approach facilitates the articulation of several analytical levels (institutions and ideas). It also makes possible the articulation of several temporalities of public action change. Overall, this research makes an important contribution to two literatures, namely the literature on public policy and the literature on queer migration studies. First, by proposing to capture change as a translation process, my approach overcomes the latent dichotomies between slow and marginal changes versus radical and rapid changes. It also overcomes the dichotomy between exogenous pressures and endogenous pressures that explain change in public policy. Second, considering the interdependence between institutions and ideas in the constitution of a national community inclusive of sexual minorities, it suggests looking beyond homonationalism, as it is conceptualized today, for understanding the construction of “us” and “them”. This construction is not the same from one state to another and does not appear to be very stable, as it evolves from one phase to another during the entire public action process. Such a perspective thus offers a third analytical path which differs from the discourse on sexual liberation and the discourse on sexual imperialism.

The Multiple Streams model developed by John Kingdon (1995) and Nikolaos Zahariadis (2007) provides a valuable framework for understanding the nature of policy change. This investigation draws extensively upon the Multiple Streams framework in order to understand the development of gun-control policy initiatives under President Barack Obama. The investigation uses a case-study approach with in-depth analysis of four different mass-shooting events that took place in the United States between 2009 and 2012. Reconstruction of the shooting events and detailed parsing of the Obama administration’s official responses to each incident, when viewed through the Multiple Streams lens, clearly explain why Obama’s aggressive policy initiative was so delayed in its emergence in spite of several shootings and the President’s clearly stated belief that gun-reform was a necessary step for the federal government. While the term “policy change” is broad and may encompass all sorts of governmental responsiveness, the term herein should be interpreted in the narrowest sense: exclusively encompassing legislative initiatives. Ultimately, the investigation concludes that numerous factors, but most prominently concerns about the timing and results of the 2010 Midterm and 2012 General Elections, prevented an aggressive pursuit of gun-reform prior to January 2013. The tragic shooting of 28 people in Newtown, Connecticut, then served as a prime focusing event for the President to aggressively engage a long-standing goal.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic showed that disastrous events can develop in ways both new and surprising. It demonstrated that an infectious disease can easily spread over the globe in a matter of weeks. While there has been a surge of policy changes during the COVID-19 pandemic there is uncertainty regarding which of these changes will remain permanent and which will be terminated. The pandemic highlighted the complex structures of governance in modern societies and raised new interest in how institutions of governance work. The COVID-19 pandemic has opened a window of opportunity for politicians and leaders to transform institutional settings.    Aim: This thesis will bring further insight into potential policy change, during a protracted crisis. The aim is to examine the role of COVID-19 pandemic in enabling changes on the agenda regarding risk governance, the Swedish crisis management system, and the overall organisation of governmental responsibility through a qualitative content analysis of governmental reports. The study investigates the policy process and agenda setting during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic at the Swedish national government. The focus is on the beginning of the crisis before the issue became better known.    Method: This study has been conducted through a qualitative case study design. The information has been retrieved from documents, that were analysed through a qualitative document analysis. Based on the case (Sweden and its national Government and Parliament), the information has been documents provided by these government bodies. In total 72 documents were chosen based on specified inclusion and exclusion criteria. These documents were then coded in NVivo 12.    Results: The analysis resulted in different themes, labelled here as: risk constructs, risk governance, crisis management, power, responsibility policy stream, political stream, and problem stream. The overall picture is that issues related to COVID-19 were at a low level during the beginning of 2020, with an increase beginning I March and apart from a drop in May, continued to rise in prevalence reaching its hight in June 2020. The data show that the COVID-19 pandemic is described in tones of great uncertainty, that it was something that could be used for learning or improvement. The data further showed discussions regarding jurisdiction and co-operation and that it started discussions on how to manage a crisis. The different risk governance strategies that came through were discursive strategy, precaution strategy, prevention strategy and risk-based strategy. Where the risk-based strategy was the most prevalent. The data show a general positive stand towards giving the Government a clearer and wider mandate to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. There is also focus on voluntary actions, safeguarding democracy and human rights.   Conclusion: This study reveals that the discussions on the coded themes coincide with the reported infection rates of the virus. The COVID-19 pandemic is argued to have caused an increase on the agenda regarding power, responsibility, and risk governance. It opened a policy window for an increase in centralisation for the national government.

This dissertation investigates the effects of natural disasters and political institutions on municipalities' climate change policies. Although most theoretical frameworks on policy adoption highlight the roles of extreme events as exogenous factors influencing policy change, most studies tend to focus on the effects of extreme events on policy change at the national level. Additionally, the existing theoretical frameworks explaining local policy adoption and public service provision do not pay attention to the roles of extreme events in local governments' policy choices. To fill those gaps, this dissertation explores the roles of natural disasters and political institutions on municipal governments' climate change policies. It does this by applying the theory of focusing events to local climate mitigation and adaptation actions. Based on the policy change framework, the political market model, and the institutional collective action frameworks, this dissertation develops and tests hypotheses to examine the effects of natural disasters and political institutions on municipalities' climate mitigation and adaptation policies. The dissertation uses 2010 National League of Cities (NLC) sustainability surveys and the 2010 International City/County Management Association (ICMA) sustainability survey to test the hypotheses. Analytical results show that floods and droughts influence local climate change policies and suggest that local governments can take advantage of extreme events when initiating a policy change. The results also suggest that political institutions can shape the effects of natural disasters on municipalities' climate mitigation and adaptation actions.

Die Agrarpolitik in den Ländern der OECD hat sich seit Mitte der 1980er Jahre stark verändert. Lange Zeit galt die Landwirtschaft als exzeptioneller Wirtschaftszweig, der umfangreiche staatliche Unterstützung für Erzeuger:innen benötigt, um Ernährungssicherheit zu gewährleisten. Heute befasst sich Agrarpolitik auch mit politikfeldübergreifenden Themen wie Verbraucherschutz, Tierwohl und ökologischer Nachhaltigkeit. Dieser Wandel ging mit neuen Politikzielen und -instrumenten, offeneren Institutionen und komplexeren Akteurskonstellationen einher. Gleichzeitig ist Agrarpolitik weiterhin auf Erzeuger:innen ausgerichtet, wodurch der ‚exzeptionalische‘ Kern – die Stützung landwirtschaftlicher Einkommen – bestehen bleibt. Das Konzept des Post-Exzeptionalismus beschreibt dieses Nebeneinander von alten und neuen Ideen, Institutionen, Akteuren, Politikzielen und -instrumenten, wodurch Spannungen in den Politikarrangements entstehen können. Diese Dissertation hat das Ziel am Beispiel der Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik (GAP) der Europäischen Union (EU) und von Governance-Aktivitäten in landwirtschaftlichen Wertschöpfungsketten in Deutschland zu einem besseren Verständnis dieser Spannungen beizutragen. Auf Grundlage einer Kombination verschiedener Ansätze der Public Policy- und Governance-Analyse untersucht diese Dissertation, wie sich die Spannungen in (i) der Ausgestaltung der Instrumente im GAP-Policy-Mix (2014-2022), (ii) den Diskurskoalitionen und Frames nationaler Stakeholdern in der Debatte zur GAP nach 2022, (iii) dem Verhältnis zwischen Staat und Landwirt:innen und (iv) den Koordinierungsaktivitäten in Wertschöpfungsketten in Deutschland zeigen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Details der GAP-Umsetzung und Governance-Aktivitäten entscheidend für die (Nicht-)Angleichung der alten und neuen Elemente in der Agrarpolitik sind. Ihre Ausgestaltung handelt sich also nicht um rein technische, administrative oder unternehmerische, sondern vielmehr um zutiefst politische Aktivitäten. / Agricultural policy in OECD countries has changed considerably since the mid-1980s. Long treated as an exceptional economic sector in need of extensive state support to ensure food security, agricultural policy now also aims to address more cross-cutting issues, including consumer protection, animal welfare and environmental sustainability. Novel objectives and policy instruments, a more open institutional framework and increasingly complex actor constellations have accompanied this shift. At the same time, agricultural policy has predominantly remained producer-oriented, perpetuating the exceptionalist core of farm income support. The term post-exceptionalism aims to capture the tensions arising from the juxtaposition of old and new ideas, institutions, actors, and objectives and policy instruments in agricultural policy. This dissertation aims to provide a better understanding of the tensions inherent in post-exceptionalist arrangements in agricultural policy, with the implementation of the European Union’s (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and governance activities in agri-food value chains in Germany as an example. Combining different approaches of public policy and governance analysis, the thesis examines how the tensions play out in (i) the design of instrument calibrations in the CAP policy mix (2014-2022), (ii) discourse coalitions and frames among national stakeholders in the run-up to the CAP post-2022, (iii) the relationship between the state and farmers underlying direct payment implementation for the CAP 2023-2027, (iv) and coordination activities in the governance of sustainability-based agri-food value chains in Germany. The results of this dissertation show that the very details of CAP implementation and governance activities in value chains are decisive for the (non)alignment of old and new elements of agricultural policy. Thus, they constitute not a mere technical, administrative or entrepreneurial but rather a political activity.

This item contains the agenda, minutes, and attachments for the Faculty Senate meeting on this date. There may be additional materials from the meeting available at the Faculty Center.

公共政策是藉由重大公共議題的討論來分析政府活動的一種研究途徑，將公共政策的過程切割成議題設定、政策規劃、政策合法化、政策執行、政策評估及政策終結等階段，雖可以獲致清晰的流程架構，但此一單向的線性思考方式，不但簡化了政策問題解決的複雜性，亦會喪失政策過程的動態本質。再者，公共政策的研究領域日益蓬勃壯大，研究途徑與方法亦漸趨多元發展，理論概念與分析架構的整合自然日趨重要，如此將有助於研究者將研究議題與經驗資料作最佳的組合。是以，本研究採取非線性的政策動態概念，對政策的演變作一有系統性的探索，在融合有關政策變遷的各種觀點後，提出「政策體系」的理論概念，建立「宏觀」的分析架構作為探索政策變遷現象的基礎。 政策體系乃是以政策過程為焦點，所有與政策性質相關的要素，都可視為政策體系的構成要素。首先，政策是在開放的體系中形成、維持、接續與終結，自環境中汲取養分同時受到環境的限制，由此觀之，外在環境因素是政策體系中不可忽略的一環。其次，討論政策體系自然不能遺漏政策本身的因素，政策乃為解決社會問題而生，沒有社會問題的存在，當然就不會有政策制定的需求，另一方面，政策本身的組構方式則是攸關問題的解決與否。再者，在民主體制中，任何的政策形成與改變都必須取得正當性的依據，只有問題的存在並不保證一定會被政府所處理，必須通過政治結構的考驗才可能有政策產出。最後，政策體系是一個互動的體系，政策參與者之間就政策方案的選擇所從事的各種行為與活動，都可能影響最後的政策產出。歸納言之，一個完整的政策體系至少應該包括幾個要素：外在環境的因素、政策本身的特性、結構性因素的作用及政策行動者的互動行為，這些要素的互動作用會導致政策的變遷。 最後，政策是政府選擇目標與工具來解決社會問題的重要活動，它不是在真空中運作，而是不斷與社會進行互動的連續性過程，這也是政策走進歷史之前會出現變遷的原因，本研究雖然提出具有規範意涵的分析政策變遷的理論架構，但是基於「真實個案是檢驗理論效度的最佳途徑」的法則，本研究以民進黨首次執政時期所推動的停建核四政策個案為例，利用文本中所建立的分析架構來詮釋此一政策變遷的過程，並在結論中整合理論與個案的研究發現，就政策體系的各個面向提出幾個有關政策變遷的假設性命題，以供後續研究之參考與檢證，進而促成政策變遷知識的深化。 / Public policy is a research approach to analyze governmental activities by discussing public issues. However, in most articles, the policy process is seen as a logical succession of steps: agenda setting, policy formulation, policy legitimation, policy implementation, policy evaluation, and policy termination. Although this progression of stages provides a clear and useful framework, it often obscures the complexities of public issues. In other words, most policies are not a process of linear development, from agenda setting to policy termination. Policy change is a common phenomenon. In this way, if we want to understand the dynamics of policy, it is helpful to take a nonlinear perspective. Policy change is used by a wide range of authors in public policy and other disciplines, but there is no consensus on what the definition of policy change is. In fact, this question has not been systematically explored until now. Policy change is not simply a label, but is an important part of the policy process. It is worth drawing more attention to this phenomenon. The aim of this study is to construct an analytical framework of policy change. Within this framework, we distinguish between different types of policy change: policy succession and policy termination, firstly. And we can find some cues from policy change, including organization, statutes, budget, personnel, and media. Secondly, we use the concept of policy system to connect with policy change. This concept contains several elements: external environment, policy attributes, institutional factor, and policy networks. These elements interact with each other to produce policy change. We use this framework to analyze policy discontinuity for the fourth nuclear power plant in 2000. Finally, policy is essentially about government. The major activity of government is seen as choosing goals and instruments to solve social problems. Policy does not exist in a vacuum; it is made in a concrete environment. We should see policy as a continuing process of social action and interaction. This is why policy may be changed before it is terminated. Finally, we provide some hypotheses and suggestions for further research at the end of this study.

Politikwissenschaftliche Studien der vergangenen Jahre stellen fest, dass das deutsche und österreichische Gesundheitswesen eher reformresistent sind. Anhand der Einführung der elektronischen Kartensysteme im deutschen und österreichischen Gesundheitswesen zeigt diese Dissertation, dass gesundheitspolitische Reformschritte möglich sind. Durch ein vergleichendes Forschungsdesign werden anhand der zwei relativ ähnlich strukturierten Staaten Deutschland und Österreich mit dennoch relevanten Unterschieden im Politikfeld Gesundheit Theorien aus der vergleichenden Policy-Forschung und der Staatstätigkeitsforschung auf ihre Erklärungskraft hin untersucht. Durch eine qualitative Inhaltsanalyse nach Mayring und die Auswertung von Experteninterviews werden die Bestimmungsfaktoren für den gesundheitspolitischen Wandel analysiert. Auf Grund der Abweichung dieser Dissertation (Reformmöglichkeit) von bisherigen empirischen Ergebnissen (Reformresistenz) aus dem Bereich der Gesundheitspolitologie, leistet die in dieser Arbeit vorgenommene Erklärung von politischem Wandel einen Beitrag zur politikwissenschaftlichen Forschung. Die Dissertation zeigt, dass eine Kombination von Theoriemodulen aus der vergleichenden Staatstätigkeitsforschung und der Policy-Forschung die Einführung der elektronischen Kartensysteme im deutschen und österreichischen Gesundheitswesen sinnvoll erklären kann. Die Arbeit stellt dar, dass der politische Wandel vor allem bis zur Phase der Implementation im Politikzyklus in beiden Staaten zügig möglich war. Geänderte Machtverhältnisse, die Verteilung von Machtressourcen zwischen den Interessengruppen im Politikfeld, vormals getroffene politische Entscheidungen und selbstverstärkende Mechanismen, das Engagement "neuer" Akteure im Subsystem, sowie gebundene Rationalitäten der politischen Entscheider sind die maßgeblichen Gründe, welche die Einführung des elektronischen Kartensystems im deutschen und im österreichischen Gesundheitswesen veranlassten.

This case study focuses on Ontario higher education policy and the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAATs). A sequence of policy shifts occurred during the last decade of the twentieth century and the early years of the new millennium. By 2002, the Government of Ontario had reviewed its position with regard to baccalaureate degree credentials being the exclusive domain of publicly supported universities. Governance arrangements for the CAATs had also changed. The new policy framework was set with two pieces of legislation, the Postsecondary Education Choice and Excellence Act, 2000, and the Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Act, 2002. The purpose of this case study is to explain why these policy changes occurred. To facilitate inquiry, John W. Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Model was used as a platform and lens to guide data collection and organize the findings. For Kingdon, policy is the outcome of a complex pre-decision process that requires the ‘coupling’ of the problem, policy, and political streams at the time of an open policy window. A qualitative approach was adopted, and primary and secondary documents covering the period 1990 to 2002 were collected. In addition, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with key policy actors and policy entrepreneurs.  The study found evidence to support the Multiple Streams Model's contention of streams of processes. However, with respect to this study, two types of policy problems were found flowing in the problem stream: macro-structural policy problems shaped conditions and the scope of options available with respect to policy goals and policy solutions; and micro-specific policy problems were localized, actor identified, constructed, and linked to specific interests. The study also found that historical institutional structures, and intermediate institutions, had a significant impact on policy development. The policy changes occurred as the result of two open policy windows, and in both instances, policy entrepreneurs were able to couple the policy streams to effect change. In view of the findings, a Structured Dynamics Model of Policy Development is offered as an explanation of the policy changes and for consideration in future inquiry.

This case study focuses on Ontario higher education policy and the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAATs). A sequence of policy shifts occurred during the last decade of the twentieth century and the early years of the new millennium. By 2002, the Government of Ontario had reviewed its position with regard to baccalaureate degree credentials being the exclusive domain of publicly supported universities. Governance arrangements for the CAATs had also changed. The new policy framework was set with two pieces of legislation, the Postsecondary Education Choice and Excellence Act, 2000, and the Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Act, 2002. The purpose of this case study is to explain why these policy changes occurred. To facilitate inquiry, John W. Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Model was used as a platform and lens to guide data collection and organize the findings. For Kingdon, policy is the outcome of a complex pre-decision process that requires the ‘coupling’ of the problem, policy, and political streams at the time of an open policy window. A qualitative approach was adopted, and primary and secondary documents covering the period 1990 to 2002 were collected. In addition, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with key policy actors and policy entrepreneurs.  The study found evidence to support the Multiple Streams Model's contention of streams of processes. However, with respect to this study, two types of policy problems were found flowing in the problem stream: macro-structural policy problems shaped conditions and the scope of options available with respect to policy goals and policy solutions; and micro-specific policy problems were localized, actor identified, constructed, and linked to specific interests. The study also found that historical institutional structures, and intermediate institutions, had a significant impact on policy development. The policy changes occurred as the result of two open policy windows, and in both instances, policy entrepreneurs were able to couple the policy streams to effect change. In view of the findings, a Structured Dynamics Model of Policy Development is offered as an explanation of the policy changes and for consideration in future inquiry.