Bricolage or Entrepreneurship ? Lessons from the Creation of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
European Policy Analysis - Volume 2 , Number 2 - Winter 2016
Bricolage or Entrepreneurship ? Lessons from the Creation of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
Thibaud Deruelle A
This paper belongs to the field of theories of the Policy process and contributes to the literature on the multiple streams approach ( MSA ), by investigating bricolage as an alternative type of agency in agenda-setting and policy formulation . The bricoleur frames conditions as a problem that can and must be fixed and emerges as the one who looks for a solution . For the bricoleur outcome goals , or rather , the choice of a particular outcome is less important than the process goal . Therefore , the bricoleur selects policy ideas depending on the properties they display and combines them to create the best “ fit ” to couple the streams . Bricolage relates to the organizational properties of certain actors , in this case the European Commission . Evidence comes from the case of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control ( ECDC ) and its origins , created in the aftermath of the severe acute respiratory syndrome crisis . I will demonstrate that the crisis did not trigger the creation of the ECDC but rather was framed as a salient issue to be resolved by the Commission . The process of policy formulation that followed resulted in a bespoke solution . As such , this paper contributes to the development of the MSA but also to the literature on ideational politics and European agencies .
Keywords : European Agencies , Multiple Streams , Bricolage , Crisis , Health Policy
A
University of Exeter , United Kingdom
43 doi : 10.18278 / epa . 2.2.4