Abstract
In the literature on public administration and policymaking, institutions are considered important as they shape collective regulation and public policies (March & Olsen, 1993; Peters, 2012). While a growing body of literature is available on the reasons and forms of institutional change (Koning, 2015; Mahoney & Thelen, 2010; Rocco & Thurston, 2014; Streek & Thelen, 2005; see also Bakir & Jarvis in this volume), less research has been done on the influence of institutional change on policy change. We have little knowledge of whether and how institutional reform can instigate changes in policymaking and the policy outputs produced. The literature on institutionalism generally focuses on established areas (economy, finance, foreign affairs, social affairs, etc.) and neglects emerging policy areas, especially emerging policy areas of low status within the architecture of government and public administration. This chapter contributes to filling this gap and focuses on the potential and impact of institutional reform on public policy in an area of steadily growing relevance, that of immigrant integration. It utilizes the introduction of an executive actor in the Austrian government, the State Secretary for Integration (SSI), as a case study to respond to two research questions: What forms of public policy change are stimulated by a new executive actor in the novel policy area of migrant integration? How can these policy changes (or the lack thereof) be explained by the contexts and facilitating conditions in which the new executive actor is embedded?
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- 1.
First, an Integration Council, representing the interests of stakeholders, social partners and authorities from regional and local levels of government. Second, an Expert Council for Integration of researchers and practitioners from the various fields linked to integration.
- 2.
Austrian State Secretaries formally belong to the federal state’s highest organs (Art. 19, B-VG), but are de facto “political adjutants to federal ministers” (Wieser, 1997). They are assigned to line ministries and their main function is to act as ministers’ “support in the management and parliamentary representation” (Art. 71, B-VG) as well as standing in for them in their absence (Art. 73, B-VG). Yet they can also be charged with specified portfolios by their superior minister (or the chancellor, if assigned to the Chancellery) and equipped with the ministry’s administrative resources in the form of a State Secretariat (Kahl & Weber, 2008, pp. 174–175).
- 3.
The chapter presents findings gathered in the research project “The State Secretariat for Integration: Evaluating Policy Change in Immigrant Integration”, supported by the Austrian National Bank—Anniversary Fund (project number: 15758). For more information see: http://www.governing-integration.at.
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Appendices
Appendix 1: List of cited interviews
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Interview 1: Dr. Alexander Janda, former head of the Austrian Integration Fund. Conducted on 14 April 2015.
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Interview 2: Dr. Mathias Vogl, head of Government Department III (Rights) and Mag. Peter Webinger, head of Departmental Group III/B (Asylum, Migration, Citizenship)—Federal Ministry of the Interior. Conducted on 27 April 2015.
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Interview 3: Dr. Stefan Steiner, head of Government Department VIII (Integration)—Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs. Conducted on 28 April 2015.
Appendix 2: List of cited government reports/plans
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Government programme 2008
(http://www.bundeskanzleramt.at/DocView.axd?CobId=32965)
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National Action Plan for Integration 2010
(https://www.bmeia.gv.at/integration/nationaler-aktionsplan/)
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Annual Integration reports 2011–2015
(https://www.bmeia.gv.at/integration/integrationsbericht/)
Appendix 3: Bills relevant to integration passed by the Austrian National Council (according to integration dimension & examination period)
Notes: Authors’ classification based on (Ager & Strang, 2008; Council of Europe, 1997; Penninx & Garcés-Mascareñas, 2016) and inductively specified. Important bills (decisions of the National Council) are bold.
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Gruber, O., Rosenberger, S. (2018). The Effects of Institutional Change on Austrian Integration Policy and the Contexts that Matter. In: Bakir, C., Jarvis, D. (eds) Institutional Entrepreneurship and Policy Change. Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70350-3_8
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