Defeating the Austerians of the warfare state: French arms policy through the lens of the Programmatic Action Framework

Abstract

This article contributes to the development of the Programmatic Action Framework (PAF) based on the case study of the procurement of the French Rafale fighter jet rather than the American F‐18 by the French government in the 1980s. This decision making dilemma is explained by revealing the competition between two “programmatic cliques.” The “sovereignist” programmatic clique that defends the French option embodies the Custodians of the nation state. The “liberal” programmatic clique that supports the American alternative represents the Austerians of the nation state. The defeat of the Austerians of the French nation warfare state is explained by the ties weakness available to the liberal programmatic clique at the political level of decision making. To this end, 89 semi‐structured interviews were conducted with the political‐military and industrial arms actors.

The (mis)fit of policy programs to political institutions and its influence on programmatic action – How crisis has differently hit French and German health policy

“…The claim that the PAF may extend existing approaches has also been confirmed by existing studies. Faure (2020) shows how the rationalist choice institutionalist view falls short in explaining French arms policy by paying too little attention to actors. Hassenteufel et al.…”

“…The Programmatic Action Framework (PAF) explains policy stability and change by focusing on biographical intersections that form the basis for social groups – programmatic groups – that jointly promote their policy program throughout the policy process and transform it into policies. Studies have identified the existence of programmatic groups in French defense policy (Faure, 2020; Genieys, 2010) and the health care systems of France, Germany, Spain, and the USA (Hassenteufel et al., 2010). While evidence confirms the occurrence of programmatic action in French and German health policy within a similar period of time alike (Genieys & Hassenteufel, 2015; Hornung & Bandelow, 2020), recent research shows that as opposed to France, the phase of programmatic action in German health policy seems to have ended (Bandelow & Hornung, 2020).…”

Theoretical foundations of the Programmatic Action Framework (PAF)

“…By focusing on these factors, the framework provides a necessary complement to existing Anglo‐American approaches to understanding policymaking. For example, case studies of French arms policy and German health policy underpin the argument presented in this contribution (Faure, 2020; Hornung & Bandelow, 2018). In all these examples, it was possible to identify programmatic actors from diverse ideological lines actively pushing for reforms in the direction of a greater vision of the policy sector, without an observable external event enabling them to do so, and benefited from this with career promotions.…”

Informal social groups and policy programs: A Programmatic Action Framework (PAF) on policymaking

“…Enhancing the original field of application of French defense policy, Faure (2020) analyzes French warfare policy against the backdrop of the PAF. Two competing groups whom Faure denotes as custodians and austerians, respectively, advocated the import of external or further use of national fighter jets.…”