The policy making processes of the European Community

The thesis looks at the policy making processes of the European Community by testing four theoretical explanations against three cases. The reluctance to reform the Common Agricultural Policy, import restrictions on Japanese cars, and car exhaust emissions standards are the three cases examined. Institutionalist, pluralist, Marxist and liberal economic theories are applied to these cases to determine which best accounts for EC policy outcomes. The analysis is preceded by a brief look at the institutional organization of the EC and the processes used to form policy. The conclusion is drawn that institutionalist theory is best suited to explain the policy outcomes. The struggle between the three main institutions of the EC -- the Commission, the Council of Ministers, and the European Parliament -- and the competing visions of a future EC that they represent are crucial to an understanding of EC policy processes. Pluralist explanations provide some insights into EC policy making, but the prominence of agricultural and carmaker interests conveys an influence of interest groups that may not hold true for other policy outcomes. Marxist and liberal economic theory both suffer the same fate: they help explain the broad ambitions of the 1992 project, but fail to explain specific policies.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts - MA

Level thesis:degree_level

master's

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Political Science

Grantor dc:publisher

University of British Columbia

Year dc:date

1992

Author dc:creator

• Kuypers, Rutger Adriaan Cornelis

Statement dc:rights

• For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.

Language dc:language

eng

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/1617

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/1617