Different shades of responsiveness: from adoption to implementation

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn this contribution I propose to broaden the concept of ‘policy’ used in responsiveness research. When citizens also have preferences over ‘what governments deliver’, it is important to analyze the link between these preferences and policy outcomes. The EU policy implementation literature may help in further exploring this link. Empirical findings from this literature show that citizen preferences sometimes have an impact on the policy-as-implemented. Furthermore, the policy-as-implemented differs from the policy-as-adopted, as often used in responsiveness studies, which nuances current findings. The discussion of both literatures highlights the importance of more clearly specifying the kind of policies that are researched as well as the relevant group of citizens. At the same time, the responsiveness literature offers an additional and interesting reason for why differences in EU policy implementation are rather the rule than the exception by emphasizing the importance of ‘local’ citizen preferences.