Do states plagiarize? The study of international policy diffusion

Inhalte

The course starts from the observation that in the contemporary world governments coordinate their policies not only through multilateral cooperation or coercion, but also through processes of cross-national policy diffusion. Policy diffusion occurs when governments voluntarily, that is without being formally obliged by international law or forced by external actors, and unilaterally adjust their domestic policies to the previous policy choices of other jurisdictions. They do so by imitating, emulating, or learning from other governments’ policies, regulations, or institutional arrangements. The result of policy diffusion is often a growing cross-national similarity of policies, policy convergence, or policy clusters.

In this course, students will gain insights into key questions in the study of policy diffusion and will be familiarized with different theoretical and conceptual approaches to policy diffusion, with major analytical and methodological challenges in the study of policy diffusion, and with the empirical findings of policy diffusion studies. To this end, students will self-dependently seek answers to the guiding question of the course: Under what conditions and how can actors in the international system employ policy diffusion as mode of governance? Self-dependent means that the course has no predefined structure. The process of finding answers and the individual steps needed to get answers will be determined by the students in the first sessions (with more or less support and guidance by the instructor). In the remaining sessions, this strategy will then be implemented by the students (with more or less support and guidance by the instructor).

Studiengänge

Master Politikwissenschaft

Master Verwaltungswissenschaft

Master Internationale Beziehungen

Master of Public Managment (Spezialisierung: Global Public Policy)