Danica Fink-Hafner

Organized interests in the policy-making process in Slovenia

The article describes the emergence of a modern civil society in the context of democratic transition in Slovenia. Empirical research has shown that modern interest groups are developing and gaining sway in the policy-making process and, moreover, that some institutionalized forms of consultative politics are becoming part of the new political system. Political parties still dominate in interest intermediation. The role of interest groups in policy-making and the types of emerging policy network vary considerably among policy fields. European networking helps to strengthen the visibility and influence of interest groups in the policy-making process.

Education Policy Convergence through the Open Method of Coordination: Theoretical Reflections and Implementation in ‘old’ and ‘new’ National Contexts

This article addresses two key questions about the convergence of education policies in the European Union (EU). How does the open method of coordination (OMC), a new governance instrument for the Europeanisation of education policies, change existing national education policy making and how can the OMC and national responses to it be researched? The authors argue that the OMC brings to national policy making a particular set of ideas about education, such as an emphasis on the contribution of education to building competitive economies and a new public management approach. The authors further suggest that the significance of such policy ideas in national education policy making can be best analysed through a combination of sociological institutionalism and discourse analysis. Hence, ‘implementation’ of EU education measures — which have been developed through policy learning — should be understood as a combination of a ‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down’ policy-making process that links EU and national levels. Finally, the article suggests — on the basis of a preliminary exploration of the implementation of education OMC measures in the United Kingdom and Slovenia — that education OMC policy ideas resonate to varying degrees in ‘old’ and ‘new’ member states.

The Determinants of the Success of Transitions to Democracy

Abstract The article provides an analysis of the determinants of the success of transitions to democracy based on a combination of qualitative comparative analysis of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia; and hierarchical clustering. The key finding is that one can reveal configurations of several factors which jointly determine either continuous or disrupted transitions to democracy.

Who says what to whom? Alignments and arguments in EU policy-making

Abstract In the EU multilevel polity, domestic interest groups seek to shape EU legislation by accessing both national and EU institutions. Previous studies indicated that institutional and issue contexts as well as organisational characteristics shape their strategies of interest representation. However, we know much less about how alignments and arguments impact on their participation in EU and national policy consultations. Addressing this gap, we investigate the lobbying strategies of almost 2900 national interest organisations from five member states (Germany, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) on 20 EU directive proposals also bringing a new empirical scope to the study of multilevel interest representation. The findings indicate that alignments and arguments shape the participation of domestic interest groups in consultations on EU policies. We infer from our study that some general predictions of interest group behaviour are overstretched and outline four major variations of interest representation routines.

This time it’s different? Effects of the Eurovision Debate on young citizens and its consequence for EU democracy – evidence from a quasi-experiment in 24 countries

ABSTRACT For the very first time in EU history, the 2014 EP elections provided citizens with the opportunity to influence the nomination of the Commission President by casting a vote for the main Europarties’ ‘lead candidates’. By subjecting the position of the Commission President to an open political contest, many experts have formulated the expectation that heightened political competition would strengthen the weak electoral connection between EU citizens and EU legislators, which some consider a root cause for the EU’s lack of public support. In particular, this contest was on display in the so-called ‘Eurovision Debate’, a televised debate between the main contenders for the Commission President broadcasted live across Europe. Drawing on a quasi-experimental study conducted in 24 EU countries, we find that debate exposure led to increased cognitive and political involvement and EU support among young citizens. Unfortunately, the debate has only reached a very small audience.

Europeanisation as a Factor of National Interest Group Political-Cultural Change The Case of Interest Groups in Slovenia

Based on a social constructivist framing, this article seeks to address the gap in the literature on the impact of Europeanisation on the national interest group political culture in general and in the post-communist context in particular. The impacts of Europeanisation on interest group domestic policy behaviour, in terms of national interest groups networking with their European counterparts, their contacts with EU-level decision makers, and their access to EU funds, are tested based on the panel surveys that were conducted in 1996 and 2012 of the most influential interest groups in eleven policy fields in Slovenia. Our key findings are that Europeanisation does support changes in the national interest group political culture in the direction of a more pro-active approach in influencing national policy processes. However, Europeanisation explains only a small portion of the variability among the domestic policy behaviour of interest groups.

Interest Representation and Post-Communist Parliaments over Two Decades

Variations in relationships between interest groups and seven post-communist parliaments (Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine) are found to be determined by the constitutional system, the strength of civil society and institutionalisation of the social partnership, as well as by international organisations. Membership in the European Union has strengthened the national executive in relation to both interest groups and the parliament.

The Presidentialisation of Parties in Slovenia: Leaders and Parties

Different authors have recently revealed several trends towards the personalisation and presidentialisation of politics in many Western liberal democracies, but also in post-socialist democracies. In the chapter, we analyse (trends of) presidentialisation in five parties that won elections in Slovenia, a country mostly described as having a premier-presidential form of constitutional system, but also where parties have exhibited different genetic features. An in-depth analysis shows that, given the stability of the semi-presidential constitutional system, the PR electoral system and the continuous fragmentation of the party system and in a context where coalition governments are the norm, to some extent the genetic features of parties can be seen as an explanatory variable of party presidentialisation.