The Domestic Impact of European Union Public Policy: Notes on Concepts, Methods, and the Challenge of Empirical Research

This article builds on the idea - presented by Hassenteufel and Surel (2000) in this journal - that research on Europeanization presents a formidable opportunity to bring EU scholars closer to 'normal' political science. By focusing on the Europeanization of public policy, the article reviews the pre-requisites for 'normal' analysis, that is, the definition of concepts, the methodology, the identification of research designs, and questions & puzzles amenable to standard public policy analysis. Europeanization involves both vertical (that is, the domestic adaptation to European models) and horizontal (for example, regulatory competition and 'framing') mechanisms. Further research would benefit from 'bottom-up' research designs which examine Europeanization in the context of other pressures and opportunities available at the domestic level.