Diverging against all odds? Regulatory Paths in Embryonic Stem Cell Research across Western Europe

An interest-driven account of Embryonic Stem Cell Research would, given the considerable financial and scientific concerns, likely predict regulations to converge towards permissive policies. However, across Western Europe, national regulations of embryonic stem-cell research vary considerably, from general bans to permissive policies. There is a lack of systematic accounting for the non-convergence, and the sparse attempts at explanation are contradictory. Drawing on qualitative comparative analysis and configurational causality, we assess the interaction of a number of explanatory factors. Our empirical analysis reveals the importance of one factor in particular, path-dependence, insofar as prior policies on assisted reproduction exert a strong and systematic effect on the subsequent regulation of ESCR

When Doctors Shape Policy: The Impact of Self-Regulation on Governing Human Biotechnology

This paper investigates the development and adoption of governance modes in the field of human biotechnology. As the field of human biotechnology is relatively new, voluntary professional self-regulation constituted the initial governing mode. In the meantime, with the exception of Ireland, all Western European countries have moved towards greater state intervention. Nevertheless they have done so in contrasting ways and the resulting governance modes for assisted reproductive technology (ART) and embryonic stem-cell research vary greatly. Instead of imposing their steering capacity in a ‘top-down’ fashion, governments have taken pre-existing self-regulatory arrangements in the field into account and built up governance mechanisms in conjunction with private actors and pre-existing modes of private governance. Our analysis demonstrates that the form and content of the initial self-regulation explain why the self-steering capacity of the medical profession was largely or at least partially preserved through hybrid governance systems in Britain and in Germany, while in France the self-regulation was entirely replaced by governmental intervention

Politikformulierung in der Fortpflanzungstechnologie: Partizipation und Einfluss feministischer Gruppierungen im internationalen Vergleich

'Der Artikel geht aus vergleichender Perspektive der Frage nach, ob die festgestellten beträchtlichen Unterschiede in den Politiken im Bereich der Fortpflanzungstechnologie auf eine je nach Land unterschiedlich starke und einheitliche Mobilisierung sowie erfolgreiche Partizipation feministischer und frauenpolitischer Gruppierungen zurückgeführt werden kann. Es werden sechs Länder verglichen, die Schweiz, Deutschland, Norwegen, Belgien, Italien und Kanada. Der Artikel kommt zu dem Schluss, dass für die 'erste Generation' von Politiken, die als Reaktion auf die Verbreitung und Routinisierung der In-vitro-Fertilisation erlassen wurden, von einem sehr beschränkten Einfluss feministischer Gruppen im Speziellen und Frauenorgansiationen im Allgemeinen auszugehen ist.' (Autorenreferat)'From a comparative perspective, this article analyses to what extent women's groups have participated and influenced the policy-making process for Assisted Reproductive Technology, and whether their participation and influence might help to explain the considerable variation observed in policy content across six countries, namely Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Belgium, Italy and Canada. The article comes to the conclusion that, for the 'first generation' of public policies formulated as a reaction towards the spread and routinization of in vitro fertilisation, feminist groups and in a larger sense women's groups have had a very limited influence on the content of the adopted policies.' (author's abstract

Beyond the Usual Suspects::New Research Themes in Comparative Public Policy

The principal paradox of comparative public policy has remained over the years: there is no clear and broadly shared definition of the field. This article engages with the debate about what comparative public policy is from a distinctive perspective. Drawing from a systematic analysis of published research articles that maps out the usual comparative suspects, it reflects on what comparative public policy does and does not do in terms of comparative scope and country range, and the extent to which the limitations in the comparative scope matter for cumulative knowledge, theory building and the consolidation of the field. The article discusses different strategies to address the challenge of extending the range of comparative analysis.</p

Quand les bactéries font la loi : regards éthiques, épistémiques, juridiques, politiques, sociales et techniques sur l’utilisation du microbiome humain à des fins judiciaires

L’utilisation du microbiome humain à des fins judiciaires comme objet d’étude implique divers enjeux allant d’une remise en question de notre conception traditionnelle de l’identité au respect de la vie privée, en passant par le type de consentement à recueillir lors du prélèvement d’un échantillon de microbiome. La particularité de cette étude nécessite le travail conjoint d’une équipe multidisciplinaire composée de spécialistes en éthique, criminalistique, droit, microbiologie, philosophie et science politique

Regulating Assisted Reproduction in Canada, Switzerland, and the USA: Comparing the Judicialization of Policy-making

This article analyses the extent to which courts shape policies for assisted reproduction. While the USA is considered to be the most litigious country, Canada has observed a growing involvement of the courts from the 1980’s onward, and Switzerland is characterized by a modest degree of judicialization. Based on national patterns, we would expect litigation and court impact to vary across these three countries. As this paper demonstrates, policy-process specific variables such as the structure of policy conflicts, the novelty of regulation, self-regulation by key stakeholders, and the policies in place better explain the variation in the judicialization of policy-making