Learning in the European Union: theoretical lenses and meta-theory

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Taylor & Francis via the DOI in this recordThe European Union may well be a learning organization, yet there is still confusion about the nature of learning, its causal structure and the normative implications. In this article we select four perspectives that address complexity, governance, the agency-structure nexus, and how learning occurs or may be blocked by institutional features. They are transactional theory, purposeful opportunism, experimental governance, and the joint decision trap. We use the four cases to investigate how history and disciplinary traditions inform theory; the core causal arguments about learning; the normative implications of the analysis; the types of learning that are theoretically predicted; the meta-theoretical aspects and the lessons for better theories of the policy process and political scientists more generally

Impact Assessment in the European Union: Lessons from a Research Project

publication-status: Acceptedtypes: ArticleIn this article, we present some major lessons drawn from a recently completed research project. Our research dealt with ex-ante evaluation, mainly impact assessment (IA). We shed new light on research questions about the control of bureaucracy, the role of IA in decision-making, economics and policy learning, and the narrative dimension of appraisal. We identify how our findings stand in relation to conventional arguments about these issues, and reflect on their normative implications. We finally reason on the possible extensions of our arguments to the wider field of policy evaluation, connecting IA and ex-post evaluation.European Research Council (ERC) project Analysis of Learning in Regulatory Governance (ALREG

Overcoming Illusions of Control: How to Nudge and Teach Regulatory Humility

In this chapter we focus on how to use insights from behavioural theory in the process of impact assessment of EU policy proposals. Over the last decade, the European Commission and more generally the European Union (EU) have developed an integrated approach to impact assessment of policy proposals – legislative or not. The impact assessment process is now a major step in the development of proposals by the European Commission. Recently, the European Parliament being biased in this way!!as invested in analytical capacity to work dialogically with the Commission on this issue. Extant literature has established that the EU impact assessment system is, comparatively speaking (for example, in comparison to the systems of the 28 Member States and the United States [US]), sufficiently robust and comprehensive (Fritsch et al., 2013; Renda, 2011; Radaelli, 2009; Wiener and Alemanno, 2010). In the debate of how to conduct impact assessment and train policymakers, there are calls for integrating the insights of behaviour science into policymaking and design regulatory options that take into account the various biases that affect citizens’ responses (Alemanno and Spina, 2013; John, 2013; John et al., 2013; Sunstein, 2011; Van Bavel et al, 2013; Vandebergh, Carrico and Schultz, 2011). But policymakers have a brain too, and therefore their own choices can be biased. The starting point for this chapter is the potential impact of one over-arching bias – the illusion of control (Langer, 1975). The proposition is that this illusion – which leads humans to over-estimate their competence and ability to control outcomes – may be particularly damaging when the tendency to regulate is institutionalised. Specifically, while the EU impact assessment process obliges policymakers to consider the status quo option (non-intervention), this is rarely ever selected. We should be clear: we do not claim that cognitive biases explain the preference for public intervention. There are different political and economic justifications for intervention. An organisation can also deliberatively decide to manipulate the IA procedures towards interventionist choices. If this is so, cognitive biases have no role to play since the organisation is not misdiagnosing the facts; rather it is manipulating them. Rather, we are interested in increasing policy makers’ awareness of ‘regulatory humility’ (Dunlop and Radaelli, 2015b). We believe this should be encouraged among policy-makers, and specifically that the option of not using public intervention (so called ‘do nothing’ option in IA) be given due consideration – whether it is rejected or not. The classic policy-making literature has always pointed toward the limits of policymaking and policymakers (notably, Hogwood and Gunn, 1984; Simon, 1956; Vickers, 1965: chapter 8; Wildavsky, 1979: especially part 2). The increased complexity of the policy environment, the difficulty of getting evidence into policy, and greater clarity about human biases have all led to a re-discovery of these limitations. The result has been a renewed call for regulatory humility and humble decision-making (Dunlop and Radaelli, 2015b; Etzioni, 2014). We are interested in how EU policymakers might be de-biased in two main ways: first by structuring IA in ways that encourage policymakers act in ways that work with biases and second by using training to stimulate awareness and reflection about the biases and their possible impact on policymakers’ work. The chapter is structured as follows. In section one, we set up the proposition that EU policymakers are especially susceptible to an illusion of control. Then we explore what can be done to combat a pre-eminent bias. We outline two categories of solutions. In section two we look at how the IA system in the EU can be implemented and amended in ways that ‘go with the grain’ of cognitive biases (Dolan et al, 2009: 7). Here, we accept the reality of that policymakers often operate in ‘fast’ mode (Kahneman, 2011). Rather than try to re-wire the policymaker’s brain, we focus on re-wiring the context within which they work to ensure that what is automatic to them is also beneficial to policymaking. In short, how can we nudge EU policymakers to explore the ‘do-nothing option’, and indeed all policy options, with humility about the control they can exercise? Section three takes a slightly different tack. Here we focus on how policymakers can be exhorted to engage in more ‘slow’ thinking about the biases they carry. Such reflection can be triggered through training. We explore the possible teaching tools that can be and are being used including in-class behavioural experiments. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how some of these ideas can be taken forward by the Commission

Effect of Sr substitution on superconductivity in Hg2(Ba1-ySry)2YCu2O8-d (part2): bond valence sum approach of the hole distribution

The effects of Sr substitution on superconductivity, and more particulary the changes induced in the hole doping mechanism, were investigated in Hg2(Ba1-ySry)2YCu2O8-d by a "bond valence sum" analysis with Sr content from y = 0.0 to y = 1.0. A comparison with CuBa2YCu2O7-d and Cu2Ba2YCu2O8 systems suggests a possible explanation of the Tc enhancement from 0 K for y = 0.0 to 42 K for y = 1.0. The charge distribution among atoms of the unit cell was determined from the refined structure, for y = 0.0 to 1.0. It shows a charge transfer to the superconducting CuO2 plane via two doping channels pi(1) and pi(2), i.e. through O2(apical)-Cu and Ba/Sr-O1 bonds respectively.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matte

Narrating Impact Assessment in the European Union

This paper is based on research carried out with the support of the European Research Council grant on Analysis of Learning in Regulatory Governance, ALREG http://centres.exeter.ac.uk/ceg/research/ALREG/index.php. Previous versions of this paper were presented at the UK Political Studies Association (PSA) annual conference, Belfast 3-5 April 2012 and the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change conference, Berlin 5-6 October 2012. We are grateful to Mathias Delori and Anna Durnova for extensive comments on an early draft.publication-status: AcceptedSince 2003, the European Commission has produced analytical documents to appraise and support its policy proposals. These so-called impact assessments (IAs) are now quite common in the preparation of legislation in the member states of the European Union. Previous research has been concerned with the quality of the IAs in terms of evidence-based policy, especially in terms of economic analysis and other standards of smart regulation. In this article, we move from a different perspective. We draw on the narrative policy framework to explore impact assessment as text and discursive instrument. We consider a sample of IAs that differ by originating DGs, legal instrument, and level of saliency. The findings show that the narrative components of the IA are quite prominent in the sample. The Commission may use IA to produce evidence-based policy, but it also engages with IA to provide a presentation of self, to establish EU norms and values, and to create consensus around policy proposals by using causal plots, doomsday scenarios, and narrative dramatization

Glauber slow dynamics of the magnetization in a molecular Ising chain

The slow dynamics (10^-6 s - 10^4 s) of the magnetization in the paramagnetic phase, predicted by Glauber for 1d Ising ferromagnets, has been observed with ac susceptibility and SQUID magnetometry measurements in a molecular chain comprising alternating Co{2+} spins and organic radical spins strongly antiferromagnetically coupled. An Arrhenius behavior with activation energy Delta=152 K has been observed for ten decades of relaxation time and found to be consistent with the Glauber model. We have extended this model to take into account the ferrimagnetic nature of the chain as well as its helicoidal structure.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures (low resolution), 16 references. Submitted to Physical Review Letter

Temperature and field dependence of the phase separation, structure, and magnetic ordering in La1−x_{1-x}Cax_xMnO3_3, (x=0.47x=0.47, 0.50, and 0.53)

Neutron powder diffraction measurements, combined with magnetization and resistivity data, have been carried out in the doped perovskite La$_{1-x}$Ca$_x$MnO$_3$ ($x=0.47$, 0.50, and 0.53) to elucidate the structural, magnetic, and electronic properties of the system around the composition corresponding to an equal number of Mn3+ and Mn4+. At room temperature all three samples are paramagnetic and single phase, with crystallographic symmetry Pnma. The samples then all become ferromagnetic (FM) at $T_C\approx 265$ K. At $\sim 230$ K, however, a second distinct crystallographic phase (denoted A-II) begins to form. Initially the intrinsic widths of the peaks are quite large, but they narrow as the temperature decreases and the phase fraction increases, indicating microscopic coexistence. The fraction of the sample that exhibits the A-II phase increases with decreasing temperature and also increases with increasing Ca doping, but the transition never goes to completion to the lowest temperatures measured (5 K) and the two phases therefore coexist in this temperature-composition regime. Phase A-II orders antiferromagnetically (AFM) below a N\'{e}el temperature $T_N \approx 160$ K, with the CE-type magnetic structure. Resistivity measurements show that this phase is a conductor, while the CE phase is insulating. Application of magnetic fields up to 9 T progressively inhibits the formation of the A-II phase, but this suppression is path dependent, being much stronger for example if the sample is field-cooled compared to zero-field cooling and then applying the field. The H-T phase diagram obtained from the diffraction measurements is in good agreement with the results of magnetization and resistivity.Comment: 12 pages, 3 tables, 11 figure

Infrared absorption from Charge Density Waves in magnetic manganites

The infrared absorption of charge density waves coupled to a magnetic background is first observed in two manganites La{1-x}Ca{x}MnO{3} with x = 0.5 and x = 0.67. In both cases a BCS-like gap 2 Delta (T), which for x=0.5 follows the hysteretic ferro-antiferromagnetic transition, fully opens at a finite T{0} < T{Neel}, with 2 Delta(T{0})/kT{c} close to 5. These results may also explain the unusual coexistence of charge ordering and ferromagnetism in La{0.5}Ca{0.5}MnO{3}.Comment: File revtex + 3 figs. in epsf. To appear on Phys. Rev. Let

High Performances Corrugated Feed Horns for Space Applications at Millimetre Wavelengths

We report on the design, fabrication and testing of a set of high performance corrugated feed horns at 30 GHz, 70 GHz and 100 GHz, built as advanced prototypes for the Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) of the ESA Planck mission. The electromagnetic designs include linear (100 GHz) and dual shaped (30 and 70 GHz) profiles. Fabrication has been achieved by direct machining at 30 GHz, and by electro-formation at higher frequencies. The measured performances on side lobes and return loss meet the stringent Planck requirements over the large (20%) instrument bandwidth. Moreover, the advantage in terms of main lobe shape and side lobes levels of the dual profiled designs has been demonstrated.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Experimental Astronom

Atomic-scale images of charge ordering in a mixed-valence manganite

Transition-metal perovskite oxides exhibit a wide range of extraordinary but imperfectly understood phenomena. Charge, spin, orbital, and lattice degrees of freedom all undergo order-disorder transitions in regimes not far from where the best-known of these phenomena, namely high-temperature superconductivity of the copper oxides, and the 'colossal' magnetoresistance of the manganese oxides, occur. Mostly diffraction techniques, sensitive either to the spin or the ionic core, have been used to measure the order. Unfortunately, because they are only weakly sensitive to valence electrons and yield superposition of signals from distinct mesoscopic phases, they cannot directly image mesoscopic phase coexistence and charge ordering, two key features of the manganites. Here we describe the first experiment to image charge ordering and phase separation in real space with atomic-scale resolution in a transition metal oxide. Our scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) data show that charge order is correlated with structural order, as well as with whether the material is locally metallic or insulating, thus giving an atomic-scale basis for descriptions of the manganites as mixtures of electronically and structurally distinct phases.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 19 reference