Fiche de cours

Internationalisation des politiques publiques

Internationalisation of Public Policies

Faculté de gestion: Institut de hautes études en administration publique

Responsable(s): Flavia Jurje

Pas d'horaire défini.

Cours (obligatoire)

Semestre de printemps

Langue(s) d'enseignement: anglais
Public: Oui
Crédits: 0

Objectif

This course will assess the growing influence of the international environment, in particular through processes of globalization, international governance, and Europeanization, on domestic public policies and decision-making, with a specific focus on Switzerland.

A first import outcome of these international-level dynamics is the relativization of the concept of national boundaries. Today, an increasing number of policy areas along with economic and social activities develop in an internationalized or de-territorialized space. This has not led to the "end of the state", as suggested by several authors in the 1990s, however, it has permanently changed the conditions within which national policies are defined and implemented. Thus, processes such as market integration or the mobility of capital have led to an increased competition between business locations, generating new constraints for the development of economic, social, or fiscal policies. Similarly, decision makers can no longer ignore the transnational nature of many policy issues, such as climate change or international migration.

These developments led to the emergence of international, "beyond the border" cooperation, which is the second important transformation of public policies brought about by processes of internationalization. International cooperation today encompasses next to states, intergovernmental organizations, but also private actors such as NGOs, rating agencies or multinational companies, which all have developed governance functions. At the same time, cross-border cooperation has also taken the form of transgovernmental coordination between various subunits of states, especially at the level of public administrations. For example, the governance of economic exchanges is increasingly delegated to international or supranational organizations such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) or the European Union (EU), as well as informal fora, like the Basel Committee, or transnational networks of governments and business organisations. In turn, these structures have created binding treaties, international standards or norms, which all have a major impact for national public policy.

This course aims to provide the students with in-depth knowledge necessary to understand the issues and forms of internationalization of Swiss public policy. At the end of the course the students should be able to identify processes of internationalization and analyse how the international context has influenced a specific national policy or measure.

Contenu

The course will be structured in two main parts, encompassing a theoretical and an empirical dimension. The first four sessions will provide the students with the theoretical, methodological and analytical tools to grasp the concept of internationalization of public policy and its underlying factors, ranging from globalization, to international governance, to European integration. At the same time, it will discuss the various forms and mechanisms through which internationalization of domestic policies occurs, ranging from policy diffusion, to adoption of international binding rules and norms, to autonomous adaptation.

The second part, covering the final four sessions, are more empirical oriented, and will be devoted to the presentation and discussion of group work prepared by the students based on pre-assigned topics and readings.

Evaluation

Individual assessment based on research paper, presentation and activity during the course.
Individual research paper - 50%

Group Presentation (4-5 students/group) - 30%

Participation: discussion of presentations, in-class activity (questions, debates, etc.) - 20%

For the retake: written exam.

Bibliographie

The course instructor will make available all the required readings on the Moodle space of the course. Students must read all mandatory literature assigned per session (usually 2 readings).

The section of further readings is optional literature, intended to provide the participants with the opportunity to go further with the study of those topics which they are particularly interested in.