The Institutional Construction of a Policy Field: Illustrations from the Common Agricultural Policy

Lynggaard, Kennet. (2005) The Institutional Construction of a Policy Field: Illustrations from the Common Agricultural Policy. In: UNSPECIFIED, Austin, Texas. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

This paper wishes to explore the dynamics giving momentum to the institutional construction of a policy field. This objective is pursued through the study of a critical case: the articulation and institutionalisation of a policy field concerned with organic farming within the auspices of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU) in the period from the 1980 to 2003. It is suggested that the articulation and institutionalisation of a policy field may be captured by means of a discursive institutional analytical framework focusing on the dynamics of institutional change. Against this background, the dynamics of institutional change are conceptualised along the lines of processes of translations, conflicts over meaning and policy entrepreneurship. Applying these concepts to the case at hand it is concluded that - when it comes to the study of ideas - perhaps: (1) the CAP is not as sectorised a policy field as it is commonly considered to be; (2) the European Parliament also has a role to play as an agent of change within the CAP and, finally, (3) the common interpretation holding that change within the CAP is largely brought about by exogenous rather than endogenous dynamics is challenged.

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