Institutional Vulnerability to Social Constructions: Federalism, Target Populations, and Policy Designs for Assisted Reproductive Technology in Six Democracies

Montpetit, Eric; Rothmayr Allison, Christine; Varone, Frédéric

doi:10.1177/0010414004271080

Scientific article

English

Institutional Vulnerability to Social Constructions: Federalism, Target Populations, and Policy Designs for Assisted Reproductive Technology in Six Democracies

Contributors

Montpetit, Eric; Rothmayr Allison, Christine; Varone, Frédéric

Published in

Comparative political studies, vol. 38, no. 2, p. 119-142

Publication date

2005

Abstract

This article contributes to efforts to integrate power-based, institutionalist, and constructivist perspectives on policy making. Using an analysis of policy designs for assisted reproductive technology, the authors argue that jurisdictional federations are more vulnerable to social con- structions based on widely held perceptions of social groups than functional federations and, to a lesser extent, unitary states. In fact, policy makers in jurisdictional federations tend to rely on communicative discourses aimed at convincing a wide public, whereas those in functional feder- ations need coordinative discourses to obtain the support of actors who play key roles in decision making. Where coordinative discourses prevail over communicative discourses, policy makers will more likely target advantaged groups with restrictive policies.

Keywords

Social constructions
Target populations
Assisted reproductive technology

UNIGE affiliation entities

Faculté des sciences de la société / Département de science politique et relations internationales

Citation (ISO format)

MONTPETIT, Eric, ROTHMAYR ALLISON, Christine, VARONE, Frédéric. Institutional Vulnerability to Social Constructions: Federalism, Target Populations, and Policy Designs for Assisted Reproductive Technology in Six Democracies. In: Comparative political studies, 2005, vol. 38, n° 2, p. 119–142. doi: 10.1177/0010414004271080

Article (Accepted version)

Identifiers

PID : unige:40104
DOI : 10.1177/0010414004271080

Journal ISSN

0010-4140

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08/09/2014 12:12:00

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08/09/2014 12:12:00

Update

14/03/2023 21:45:08

Status update

14/03/2023 21:45:08

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30/10/2024 19:59:49

Institutional Vulnerability to Social Constructions: Federalism, Target Populations, and Policy Designs for Assisted Reproductive Technology in Six Democracies

Contributors

Published in

Publication date

Abstract

Keywords

UNIGE affiliation entities

Citation (ISO format)

Main files (1)

Identifiers

Journal ISSN

Technical informations

Creation

First validation

Update

Status update

Last indexation