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This chapter deals with the Europeanization of public policy, with emphasis on the problems that researchers encounter when they try to get to grips with the concept of Europeanization, the issue of explanation, the measurement of effects and the control of alternative rival hypotheses. It covers the domestic impact of the public policy of the European Union (EU), for which the term ‘EU-ization’ could be used. Featherstone has shown in the introductory chapter that the scope of Europeanization can go beyond EU-ization, for example, it can include the transfer of policy from one European country to several other countries, but this chapter if primarily concerned with how the EU impacts on the domestic policy systems of member states. The first section of the chapter, ‘The Concept’, looks at the implications of the conceptual analysis of Europeanization and suggests ideas in the direction of conceptual precision; the next section ‘What is Europeanized and to What Extent?’ ‘unpacks’ the concept of Europeanization by using a simple taxonomy; the section ‘Vertical and Horizontal Mechanisms' illustrates the main mechanisms involved in Europeanization of public policy, before the key explanatory variables are discussed in the section ‘Towards Explanation?’. The concluding section presents suggestions for future research, the key argument throughout the chapter having been that research on Europeanization presents an opportunity to bring EU scholars closer to ‘normal’ political science.

The field of policy learning is characterised by concept stretching and a lack of systematic findings. To systematise them, we combine the classic Sartorian approach to classification with the more recent insights on explanatory typologies, distinguishing between the genus and the different species within it. By drawing on the technique of explanatory typologies to introduce a basic model of policy learning, we identify four major genera in the literature. We then generate variation within each cell by using rigorous concepts drawn from adult education research. By looking at learning through the lenses of knowledge utilisation, we show that the basic model can be expanded to reveal sixteen different species. These types are all conceptually possible, but are not all empirically established in the literature. Our reconstruction of the field sheds light on mechanisms and relations associated with alternative operationalisations of learning and the role of actors in the process of knowledge construction and utilisation. By providing a comprehensive typology, we mitigate concept-stretching problems and lay the foundations for the systematic comparison across and within cases of policy learning.

This paper discusses the concept of Europeanization in the light of recent research on the impact of the European Union politics and policy. Conceptual analysis is preliminary to empirical analysis. Accordingly, I examine the risk of 'concept stretching', discuss extension and intension of Europeanization, and propose a taxonomy to 'unpack' the concept and organize empirical research. The explanation of Europeanization is based on mechanisms and variables that need further exploration, but some preliminary results are presented here. Further research should concentrate on the policy level (and its interaction with macro-structures) and seek cross-fertilization with theoretical policy analysis and international relations, thus avoiding the risk of intellectual segregation. KurzfassungDieser Beitrag diskutiert das Konzept der Europäisierung im Lichte der Forschung zu den Einwirkungen der Entscheidungsprozesse und Politiken der Europäischen Union. Vor der empirischen Analyse muss die konzeptionelle stehen. Daher untersuche ich zunächst die Gefahr der konzeptionellen Überdehnung, diskutiere Ausmaß und Intensität der Europäisierung und schlage eine Taxonomie vor, um das Konzept zu operationalisieren und empirische Forschung zu organisieren. Die Erklärung der Europäisierung fußt auf Mechanismen und Variablen, die noch weiterer Klärung bedürfen, doch können bereits hier einige vorläufige Ergebnisse vorgestellt werden. Weitere Forschung sollte sich auf die Ebene der Politiken (und deren Interaktion mit Makro-Strukturen) konzentrieren und auf gegenseitige Befruchtung mit theoretischer Politikanalyse und Internationalen Beziehungen abzielen, um so das Risiko einer intellektuellen Segregation zu vermeiden. The authorClaudio M. Radaelli, Ph.D., is senior lecturer in Politics in the

This article examines public policy in the European Union (EU) by drawing upon the framework of policy transfer, which has been recently refined by comparativists, and the concept of isomorphism developed within organizational theory. Three case studies-namely, the single currency, tax policy and media ownership policy-are discussed and compared with the aim of assessing the potential of isomorphism for the analysis of policy diffusion. The author argues that European institutions, which have a serious limitation in terms of legitimacy, stimulate policy transfer by catalyzing isomorphic processes. Policy transfer, however, is constrained when there are no national cases to be imitated. Yet European institutions, most notably the European Commission, can overcome the problem by "inseminating" solutions into national political systems.