Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Explaining policy deadlock: the case of Sarkozy’s integration policy

  • Original Article
  • Published:
French Politics Aims and scope

Abstract

What processes account for the deadlock in a given policy? While causes and mechanisms of policy change have been extensively researched, this paper sheds light on how formal institutional change can lead to policy deadlock. This paper examines two cases that demonstrate the absence of progress on integration policy during Sarkozy’s time in office (as a Minister of the Interior and as a president). Drawing on elite interviews, the paper points out how institutional change can lead to departmental competition within new or combined structures, leading to policy deadlock, as new layered actors do not always have the capacity to push old ones out, resulting in further institutional change.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. While some interviewees were happy to go on record, others only agreed to speak to me on the basis of their accounts being anonymous. For the sake of brevity, not all the interviews that I conducted are quoted in this paper. The paper only includes the clearest or most compelling examples; however, I do give preference to on-the-record testimony, within the themes that appeared in the sample of the interviews that I conducted.

References

  • Abadan-Unat, N. 1997. Ethnic Business, Ethnic Communities, and Ethno-politics Among Turks in Europe. In Immigration into Western Societies: Problems and Policies, ed. E. Uçarer and D. Puchala. London: Pinter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adida, C., D. Laitin, and M. Valfort. 2014. Muslims in France: Identifying a Discriminatory Equilibrium. Journal of Population Economics 27(4): 1039–1086.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beach, D., and R.B. Pedersen. 2013. Process-Tracing Methods: Foundations and Guidelines. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beach, D., and R.B. Pedersen. 2016. Selecting Appropriate Cases when Tracing Causal Mechanisms. Sociological Methods and Research 47(4): 1–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beamer, G. 2002. Elite Interviews and State Politics Research. State Politics and Policy Quarterly 2(1): 86–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bengtsson, B., and N. Hertting. 2014. Generalization by Mechanism: Thin Rationality and Ideal-Type Analysis in Case Study Research. Philosophy of the Social Sciences 44(6): 707–732.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, A. 2010. Process Tracing and Causal Inference. In Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards, 2nd ed, ed. H. Brady and D. Collier. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, A., and J. Checkel. 2015. Process Tracing: From Metaphor to Analytic Tool. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bezes, P. 2007. The ‘Steering State’ Model: the Emergence of a New Organizational Form in the French Public Administration. Sociologie du Travail 49: 67–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bezes, P. 2009. Réinventer l’Etat: Les reformes de l’administration française (1962–2008). Paris: PUF.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bezes. P. 2016. Challenges to French Public Administration: Mapping the Vitality of Its Knowledge Sources. In The Oxford Handbook of French Poltics. ed. R. Elgie, E Grossman, and A. Mazur.

  • Birnbaum, P. 1982. The Heights of Power: An Essay on the Power Elite in France. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blatter, J., and T. Blume. 2008. Co-Variation and Causal Process Tracing Revisited: Clarifying New Directions for Causal Inference and Generalization in Case Study Methodology. Qualitative Methods 6(1): 29–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. 1996. The State Nobility: Elite Schools in the Field of Power. Oxford: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho, J. 2016. The Effectiveness of French Immigration Policy Under President Nicolas Sarkozy. Parliamentary Affairs 69(1): 53–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho, J. 2017. Mainstream Party Strategies Towards Extreme Right Parties: The French 2007 and 2012 Presidential Elections. Government and Opposition: An International Journal of Comparative Politics 54(2): 1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho, J., and A. Geddes. 2012. La politique d’immigration sous Sarkozy: Le retour à l’identité nationale. In Politiques publiques 3: Les politiques publiques sous Sarkozy, ed. J. Maillard. Paris: Presses de Sciences Po.

    Google Scholar 

  • Consterdine, E. 2015. From Zero Migration to the Migration State: Whitehall Cultures, Institutional Conversion and Policy Change. International Journal of Public Policy 11(4): 129–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Consterdine, E. 2018. Labour’s Immigration Policy: The Making of Migration State. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drake, H. 2011. Contemporary France. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duelund, P. 2016. The Impact of the New Nationalism and Identity Politics on Cultural Policy-Making in Europe and Beyond. In Challenging Identities: European Horizons, 1st ed, ed. P. Madsen. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Escafré-Dublet, A. 2014. Mainstreaming Immigrant Integration Policy in France. Brussels: MPI Report.

    Google Scholar 

  • Falleti, T.G., and J.F. Lynch. 2008. From Process to Mechanism: Varieties of Disaggregation. Qualitative Sociology 31(4): 333–339.

    Google Scholar 

  • Falleti, T.G., and J.F. Lynch. 2009. Context and Causal Mechanisms in Political Analysis. Comparative Political Studies 42(9): 1143–1166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, G. 1995. Modes of Immigration Politics in Liberal Democratic States. International Migration Review 19(4): 881–908.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, Gary. 2001. Client Politics or Populism? The Politics of Immigration Reform in the United States. In Controlling a New Migration World, ed. V. Guiraudon and C. Joppke. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Genieys, W. 2005. The Sociology of Political Elites in France: The End of an Exception? International Political Science Review 26(4): 413–430.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guiraudon, V. 2005. Immigration Politics and Policies. In Developments in French Politics 4, ed. A. Cole, P. le Galès, and J. Levy. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hampshire, J., and T. Bale. 2015. New Administration, New Immigration Regime: Do Parties Matter After All? A UK Case Study. West European Politics 38(1): 145–166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hollifield, J. 2014. France. In Controlling Immigration. A Global Perspective, ed. J. Hollifield, P. Martin, and P. Orrenius. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivaldi, G. 2008. Inequality, Identity and the People: New Patterns of Right-Wing Competition and Sarkozy’s ‘Winning Formula’ in the 2007 French Presidential Election. American Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Meeting. Boston. https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00320692/document.

  • Joppke, C. 1998. Why Liberal States Accept Unwanted Immigration. World Politics 50(2): 266–293.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kavanaugh, D., and D. Richards. 2001. Departmentalism and Joined Up Government. Parliamentary Affairs 54(1): 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, G., R. Keohane, and S. Verba. 1994. Designing Social Enquiry. Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemarié, A. 2012. Le candidat Sarkozy réhabilite l’identité nationale. Le Monde, 05 March 2012. https://www.lemonde.fr/election-presidentielle-2012/article/2012/03/05/le-candidat-sarkozy-rehabilite-l-identite-nationale_1652134_1471069.html.

  • Le Monde. 2009. Besson relance le débat sur l’identité nationale. Le Monde, 25 October 2009. https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2009/10/25/besson-relance-le-debat-sur-l-identite-nationale_1258628_823448.html.

  • Lepinard, E., and P. Simon. 2008. From Integration to Antidiscrimination… to Diversity? Antidiscrimination Policies and Politics in French Workplace. European Commission.

  • Lipsky, M. 1980. Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services. New York: Russel Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahoney, J., and K. Thelen. 2009. Explaining Institutional Change: Ambiguity, Agency and Power. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • March, J., and J. Olsen. 1989. Rediscovering Institutions. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • March, J., and J. Olsen. 1995. Democratic Governance. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marlière, P. 2013. ‘Sarkozysm’: From Political Ambivalence to Hard Right. In The Sarkozy Presidency: Breaking the Mould?, ed. G. Raymond. Palgrave: London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marthaler, S. 2008. Nicolas Sarkozy and the Politics of French Immigration Policy. Journal of European Public Policy 15(3): 382–397.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, N. 2007. Comment Nicolas Sarkozy a rétréci l’électorat Le Pen. Revue française de science politique 57(3): 429–445.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mucchielli, L., and V. Goaziou. 2007. Quand les banlieus brûlent… Retour sur les émeuts de novembre 2005. https://www.travail-social.com/telecharger/conference_banlieues.pdf.

  • Noël, O. 2008. Politique de diversité ou politique de diversion? Du paradigm public de lute contre les discriminations à sa déqualification juridique. Revue Asylon(s) 4, Institutionnalisation de la xénophobie en France, http://www.reseau-terra.eu/article764.html.

  • Noiriel, G. 2007. A Quoi Sert “l'identite Nationale”. Agone.

  • Ocak, Ö. 2016. Immigration and French National Identity Under Neoliberalism: Sarkozy’s Selective Immigration Politics as a Performance of Sovereignty. Patterns of Prejudice 50(1): 82–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, O. 2013. Sampling in Interview-Based Qualitative Research: A Theoretical and Practical Guide. Qualitative Research in Psychology 11(1): 25–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarkozy, N. 2007. Mon projet. Ensemble tout devient possible. iPolitique, http://ipolitique.free.fr/francepolitique/sarkozy2007-2.pdf.

  • Senat. n. d. Annexe 2. Le fond d’action et de soutien pour l’intégration et la lutte contre les discriminations. Senat, https://www.senat.fr/rap/a04-033/a04-0338.html.

  • Sides, J., and J. Citrin. 2007. European Opinion About Immigration: The Role of Identities, Interests and Information. British Journal of Political Science 37(3): 477–504.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon, P. 2007. Comment la lutte contre les discriminations est passé à droite. Mouvements 4(52): 153–163.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon, P. 2009. La stratégie de la discrimination positive: Sarkozy et le débat français sur l’égalité. Modern and Contemporary France 17(4): 435–450.

    Google Scholar 

  • Somerville, W. 2007. Immigration Under New Labour. Bristol: Policy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Streeck, W., and K. Thelen. 2005. Beyond Continuity. Institutional Change in Advanced Political Economies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suleiman, E. 1974. Politics, Power and Bureaucracy in France: The Administrative Elite. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suleiman, E. 1978. Elites in French Society: The Politics of Survival. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tansey, O. 2007. Process Tracing and Elite Interviewing: A Case for Non-probability Sampling. PS: Political Science and Politics 40(4): 765–772.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thelen, K. 2003. How Institutions Evolve: Insights from Comparative-Historical Analysis. In Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences, ed. J. Mahoney and D. Rueschemeyer, 208–240. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Leun, J. 2003. Looking for Loopholes. Processes of Incorporation of Illegal Immigrants in the Netherlands. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wihtol de Wenden, C. 2012. Les questions de citoyennetté, de diversité et de nation en référence au récent débat sur l’identité nationale en France. In La communauté politique en question: Regards croisés sur l’immigration, la citoyenneté, la diversité et le pouvoir, 1st ed., ed. M. Labelle, J. Couture and F. Remiggi. Presses de l’Université de Quebec.

Download references

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to two anonymous reviewers and to my interviewees for their time and help. This project has benefitted from the valuable feedback of David McKeever, Cathy-Gormley Heenan, Helen Drake, Emile Chabal and Emily St Denny.

Funding

This work was supported by the Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences, Ulster University, Shore Road, Office 14L02, Newtonabbey, BT370QB, UK

    Anna McKeever

Authors
  1. Anna McKeever
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anna McKeever.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

No potential conflict of interest was disclosed by the author.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

McKeever, A. Explaining policy deadlock: the case of Sarkozy’s integration policy. Fr Polit 19, 51–64 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41253-020-00105-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41253-020-00105-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation