Europeanisation in Turkish Water Management Policy: A Sociological Institutionalism Perspective

Rational institutionalism struggles to explain ongoing Europeanisation in Turkey, where accession incentives have declined or reversed. An alternative proposition suggests a self-sustaining cycle of socialization through social learning around water policy norms.

Format: Hardback
Length: 274 pages
Publication date: 15 August 2022
Publisher: Lexington Books

Rational institutionalisms offer theoretical explanations for external Europeanisation, focusing on material incentives such as accession conditionality in determining change in non-EU states. However, these explanations struggle to interpret ongoing Europeanisation where accession incentives have declined or even reversed (‘stalled accession), but institutional adjustment still continues. This phenomenon is evident in Turkey, a state that actively pursued EU membership between 1999 and 2004, resulting in domestic institutional reform to align governance structures with the EU. However, Europeanisation has reversed in some policy sectors but continued in others, such as Turkish water policy, despite a declining accession process. Rational institutional arguments therefore appear to lose explanatory power for such events post-2005. An alternative theoretical proposition forwarded is that the EU accession process embedded a self-sustaining cycle of socialization through social learning around water policy norms amongst policy actors that has continued beyond this accession imperative.

Rational institutionalisms provide theoretical explanations for external Europeanisation, emphasizing material incentives like accession conditionality in shaping change in non-EU states. However, these explanations face challenges when attempting to interpret ongoing Europeanisation where accession incentives have declined or even reversed (‘stalled accession), yet institutional adjustment persists. This phenomenon is evident in Turkey, a state that actively pursued EU membership between 1999 and 2004, leading to domestic institutional reform to align governance structures with the EU. However, Europeanisation has reversed in some policy sectors but continued in others, such as Turkish water policy, despite a declining accession process. Rational institutional arguments thus appear to lose explanatory power for such events post-2005. An alternative theoretical proposition suggests that the EU accession process embedded a self-sustaining cycle of socialization through social learning around water policy norms among policy actors, which has continued beyond the initial accession imperative.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781666901634