McBride and Mazur The Plenipotentiary institutional trajectory in Poland demonstrated how often the displacement of the institution in the form of re-establishing it as a new agency was followed by institutional drift because of the changes in the political environment. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrated that institutional change in the form of layering and conversion can also lead to less gender equal policy outcomes, given the presence of strong veto players in the political arena.
To unpack the contradictions and complexities in the Plenipotentiary institutions, I next look at the discursive policy frames with the aim of understanding the dense socio-discursive context in which the above path dependencies occurred. The analysis of the frames follows the structure set out in the critical frame section above cf. First, I contextualize the frame with regards to actors who articulates it and location where it occurs ; second, I provide an exploration of what is conceived as the problem that the Plenipotentiary solves; third, I discuss the specific formulation of the Plenipotentiary office as solution; fourth, I look at the normative claims within the frame.
In the final section, I analyze how the frames changed over the period under analysis. This frame was a dominant governmental frame in the — period. Its hegemony stemmed from the privileged position of the mainstream PO governmental discourse at the time.
The parliamentary debates on the antidiscrimination legislation in — explicitly defined the establishment of the Plenipotentiary position as an EU-mandated obligation. In the parliamentary debate transcripts of —, PO deputies highlighted how the EU Commission had started a formal procedure against Poland for not implementing the EU acquis concerning gender equality and antidiscrimination. Also, the Plenipotentiary reports in the s Europeanization phase explicitly referred to this.
The main proponents of this frame were center-right, liberal, and center-left politicians and decision-makers, especially in the discussions leading up to the formal legislation of the Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment in This frame centered on the idea that the establishment and proper functioning of the Plenipotentiary office was an EU accession and membership requirement.
By association, gender equality and antidiscrimination aims were purposefully framed as a condition of membership, too. Hence, the normative basis for this frame comprised legalistic arguments with references to the obligations stemming from EU membership.
Europeanization was linked with progress and democratization. This frame was a nonhegemonic continuing frame in the years — While in the period —, some governmental forces expressed it too, after , it became mainly an oppositional frame articulated by the same actors.
The main articulators of this frame were centrist-liberal, and center-left politicians and decision-makers. The frame is found in media discussions e. It recognized the need to coordinate efforts to fight inequality and discrimination at governmental level. Wider social learning, societal attitudes, and behavioral change were not in the frame. In this frame, the office of Plenipotentiary should be a guardian of gender equality and antidiscrimination.
This frame is a nonhegemonic frame, the articulation of which was present throughout the period of analysis. The frame also moved from being mainly an opposition frame — to one of the government frames after The frame also entailed a refusal to act in any way perceived to be straying too far off from the minimum requirement coming from law. The frame is technical technocratic and presents itself as a rational approach to government.
The diagnosed problem in this frame was the existence of too many governmental institutions aiming to regulate society and individual choices. This frame was a nonhegemonic, oppositional frame in — However, after , it gained prominence since the main anti-gender actors were in power. This frame was used to undermine the position in —, when the PiS government diluted the office by restructuring and partially dismantling it.
This frame was also an oppositional, nonhegemonic frame until The main articulators were PiS politicians and later PiS government officials in — This frame was present in PiS party manifestos e. This frame was a corollary of the first Europeanizing requirement frame.
It also complemented the above anti-gender frame. The problem diagnosed was a foreign imposition of values that were supposedly alien to Poland. The perception of EU requirements was no longer a benchmark to be reached, but rather a not-so desired or fitting obligation that should be moderated. The analyzed frames did not all appear at the same time, with the same level of dominance table 3. Their distribution and prevalence differed in the period under analysis.
I identified two clear stages in the time period under analysis: —, when the first three frames were governmental frames and set out the debate about the Plenipotentiary and gender equality policy by association ; and the period —, when the debate was reframed by ultraconservative actors leading to a dominance of the latter two frames described above with recourse also to the frame of institutional overgrowth.
This shows a devolution and regress conducive to policy backsliding and de-democratization. The type of institutional change does not seem to preclude any gender equality outcome. Displacement of the Plenipotentiary institution often combined with drift in the Polish case and strong insurrectionist veto actors led to policy decay, the reframing of gender equality and overall policy dismantling.
The linking of Europeanization and democratization with the adoption and implementation of gender equality policy until was eventually supplanted by its reframing as more nefarious in conjunction with the Euroscepticism of the ruling PiS party since Polish politics and public discourses shifted from the initially dominating post-accession EU-enthusiasm to more religious conservatism and nationalism.
In the Polish case, the linking of gender equality policy with democratization and Europeanization and its implementation only at a formal, legislative level paved the way for policy dismantling and knee-jerk rejection of gender equality cf. This strategic reframing led to the policy decay of the Plenipotentiary office and thereby democratic and policy backsliding.
Subsequent governments and parliaments in Poland have demonstrated ambivalent positions in terms of their commitment to implementing gender equality policies. Europeanization and concomitant gender equality reforms remained largely elite-driven and technocratic. The Plenipotentiary position was often seen as a token for the EU and a window-dressing addition to politics that showed how progressive the governments were. However, the ambiguous political commitment in the implementation of gender equality policies cannot be covered up or made up for by the existence of even long-standing, gender-equality-focused governmental bodies, especially if these institutions undergo displacement and drift after every election because their institutional remit and scope depend on the government in power.
The analysis has shown that both Europeanization and democratization are contested, struggling processes that yield opportunity moments to both progressive and veto actors. In spite of their commitment and work up to , the Plenipotentiaries never managed to go beyond the rigid political divisions of Polish post-transformation politics because they were restricted by the institutional design of the office as well as its historical path dependency, discursive, and socio-political contexts, as shown in both the institutional and framing analysis parts of the article.
Overall, the analysis supports the findings in the literature that de-democratization compounds gender equality policy backsliding. More specifically, the analysis contributed to the debates on the fate of gender equality architectures and how they connect to democratic backsliding, with Europeanization as the connection, because in the Polish case the de-democratization is legitimized as backlash against the EU.
The article highlights the necessity for further research and discussion of the strategic reframing of Europeanization and the associated gender equality values as the problem that the current democratically backsliding governments are purporting to solve.
The dismantling of the Plenipotentiary for Equality is part of the broader decay of the democratic institutions in Poland, but its trajectory can also elucidate broader de-democratization mechanisms.
Importantly, it shows the contingency and context-dependence of the complex ways in which gender equality machineries succeed or fail.
I have shown that it is also part and parcel of legitimizing backsliding changes by strategically reframing the connection between the EU and gender equality. I would like to thank the special issue editors and the anonymous reviewers for their comments. This publication has received funding from the European Research Council ERC under the European Union's Horizon research and innovation programme grant number Beveridge Fiona. Analysing the contribution of soft and hard measures in EU gender equality law and policy.
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In order to do so, this dissertation will examine the main aims of the project of economic and political integration in Europe and the main grievances voiced out by the segments of society willing to see a return to more traditionalist forms of nationhood. The second aim of the dissertation is to establish the main reasons behind the vote to leave the European Union in June This objective will be fulfilled by examining the social narrative projected by the Leave campaign and the main themes related to the emergence of an identitarian movement in the United Kingdom.
In this context, there will be an analysis of the economic, social and cultural disjunctures that were brought forth by the age of globalisation and the process of integration propagated by the European Union.
This chapter will also outline the main facets of the concept of national identity in twenty-first century Europe. This section of the dissertation will examine in which manner this state of affairs has been facilitated by the push for economic and political integration on the part of the European elites.
Bootle, R. Boyatzis, R. Burchill, S. Charter, D. Biteback Publishing, London. Connolly, B. Creswell, J. Duff, A. Dunt, I. Ford, R. Jackson, R. Kaufman, J. Liddle, R. Tauris, London. Risse, T. Zahariadis, N. Verhofstadt, G. Wendt, A. Zehfuss, M. Why choose us? Manage Orders Sign Out. Bibliography Bootle, R.
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