Sonia Mazey

Policy framing: Interest groups and the lead up to 1996 inter‐governmental conference

This article (completed before the Amsterdam Summit in June 1997) examines the ongoing attempts by key non‐governmental actors to influence the agenda of the 1996 Inter‐governmental Confederence (IGC). This IGC constitutes a good example of the ‘garbage‐can’ model of organisational choice, characterised by solutions chasing problems and problems chasing solutions. In the absence of a fixed agenda, key groups such as businesses, trades unions and environmentalists compete to ‘frame’ the IGC debates in a manner consistent with their own interests. Building on the policy fashion of the 1980s and 1990s, business has been particularly successful in establishing ‘competititveness’ as a central theme. Other groups, such as environmentalists and trade union may secure ‘side payments’ in return for continued support for European integration. As the IGC progresses, groups are likely to reformulate their preferences and engage in continuous ad hoc coalition‐building in order to achieve their objectives.

Public policy‐making in France: The art of the possible

This article examines the policy performance of the Mitterrand administration from the perspective of rationalist and incremental models of policy‐making. It is argued that the incrementalist approach provides a more comprehensive and realistic framework with which to assess the policy record of the French Socialist government. The failure of that government to implement its radical programme supports the view that effective policy‐making even within a formally centralised state is, in practice, a highly complex and multilateral process involving constant negotiation between the government, the administration and powerful interest groups.