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Single Policy Study: Three Variations in Design

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Research Methods in European Union Studies

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics ((PSEUP))

Abstract

Single policy studies are the most common form of EU research. They are widely used to understand the role of the EU in a wide variety of sectors, together with its development over time, and often offer public policy prescriptions. The main aim of this chapter is to discuss the relevance of single policy studies in EU research and give examples of how such research can be carried out and designed. It begins by discussing single policy studies in terms of their potential, but also their weakness and limitations. One clear advantage is that a single policy study entails a choice of method that is not associated with a specific perspective, framework or theory but can be used broadly, for example within rationalist, process oriented, constructivist and critical frameworks (Bacchi, 1999; Hajer and Wagenaar, 2003; Sabatier, 2007). It is not locked into or associated with a specific perspective or theory. After a brief presentation and problematisation of the single policy study as a method in EU research, the chapter will review three different research designs that study different single policies: EU environmental policy, the biofuels directive and the EU Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The examples are illustrative of how policy study can be designed using three different theoretical approaches in the analysis: multiple streams approach to policy making, comparative hypothesis testing and feminist institutional theory. While there are multiple ways to design a policy study, how it is done is determined by the research question, the perspective and the theoretical approach employed.

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Authors
  1. Annica Kronsell
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  2. Ian Manners
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Society and Globalisation, University of Roskilde, Denmark

    Kennet Lynggaard (Associate Professor) (Associate Professor)

  2. Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

    Ian Manners (Professor) (Professor)

  3. School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

    Karl Löfgren (Associate Professor) (Associate Professor)

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© 2015 Annica Kronsell and Ian Manners

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Kronsell, A., Manners, I. (2015). Single Policy Study: Three Variations in Design. In: Lynggaard, K., Manners, I., Löfgren, K. (eds) Research Methods in European Union Studies. Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137316967_6

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