The Domestic Constraints on Reform

Abstract

The previous chapter examined the external stimulus to reform represented by the pressures of the EU. The Europeanization literature delves into the domestic conditions that might affect the processes of adaptation to such stimuli. Yet the further such a search progresses, the greater the need to consider different literatures that focus on the domestic system. A number of approaches support a shared claim that domestic politics matters, but they stress different explanatory variables. This chapter considers a broad range of ‘domestic’ approaches to embrace the major lines of enquiry in comparative politics and political economy. It then proceeds to select from these approaches the most relevant aspects to build a hypothesis for the later case studies. The discussion is intended to deepen the understanding of the previous chapter, to enrich and to extend beyond the limits of the Europeanization perspective. It discusses the relevance of political culture, the nature of the party system, the existing form of interest mediation, and the prevailing models of capitalism and welfare provision. The starting point for each is the ‘domestic’ and none prioritizes the EU. Ultimately, however, it is argued that both sets of approaches — those of Chapters 2 and 3 — need not be seen as incompatible; rather, one compensates for the limitations of the other in the development of a more rounded explanation.