Back to the Future in EU Social Policy? Endogenous Critical Junctures and the Case of the European Pillar of Social Rights
研究了欧盟《欧洲社会权利支柱》的制定过程，发现尽管增加了开放性和回应性，但并未改变软法和政府间主义的主导地位，对理解内生性关键节点如何影响政策变革有参考价值。
Abstract The launch of the European Pillar of Social Rights occurred at a phase of endogenous critical juncture for Social Europe. By analyzing the Pillar's formulation and adoption process, we investigate to what extent the European Commission used the involvement of civil society and policy responsiveness to foster change in the modes of governance and legitimize stronger intervention in the social sphere, by re‐launching the methods of coordination introduced in the 1990s. Methodologically, we rely on a content analysis of EU policy documents before and after the public consultations, a content analysis of over 60 position papers and on interviews with policy actors. We find that despite increased openness and responsiveness, the Pillar initiative did not allow to alter the predominance of ‘soft law’ routes and patterns of intergovernmentalism characterizing the governance of EU social policy, a result that further qualifies the conditions that lead (endogenous) critical junctures to generate change.