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Participatory Gains and Policy Effectiveness: The Open Method of Co‐ordination Information Society
Author(s) -
Harcourt Alison
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
jcms: journal of common market studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.54
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1468-5965
pISSN - 0021-9886
DOI - 10.1111/jcms.12022
Subject(s) - citizen journalism , argument (complex analysis) , politics , transparency (behavior) , public administration , public relations , political science , sociology , public economics , economics , law , biochemistry , chemistry
This article provides empirical findings on the relationship between the open method of co‐ordination and participation ( OMC ). Empirically, it draws on within‐case analysis to examine how participation, venues and outcomes have varied in different domains of information society policy. This is a challenging case for claims about the participatory effects of the OMC because it is not a policy originally designed to address social policy concerns or unemployment problems. The main conceptual argument is that the OMC is a political opportunity structure that distributes participatory gains. The article examines this opportunity structure by separating out the dimensions of ‘procedure’ and ‘outcomes’ and including ‘transparency’ as a moderating variable. The findings point to participatory effects in all but one case, although not for the same actors and at the same level ( E uropean U nion or national/sub‐national).