An inquiry into the material and ideational dimensions of policymaking : a case study of fuel poverty in Germany

A tendency in current policy research is the focus on ideational features of policymaking, i.e. the way ideas, beliefs and language shape policy processes. The impact of the material situation as it exists irrespective of human interpretation, or in other words, the factual problem pressure, is hardly considered as an explanatory variable. In this dissertation, I propose to analyze both dimensions as a means to get a more thorough picture of the dynamics behind policymaking. For this purpose, I carry out a case study of fuel poverty in Germany. The topic emerged on the political agenda within the context of the energy transition. Notwithstanding the ample attention attributed to the topic within this larger debate, no considerable policy activity followed, i.e. that the topic was not considered on the decision agenda and remained a non-policy. In this case study, I seek to analyze the impact material and ideational factors had on agenda-setting and non-policymaking related to fuel poverty in Germany. This means that I want to find out whether the course of fuel poverty on the political and decision agenda can be explained by dynamics in problem pressure, or rather by the way relevant actors perceived of the problem and defined it in the political debate. The results indicate that the ideational dimension did exert influence both on agenda-setting and non-policymaking. However, in contrast to the assumptions of the non-policymaking literature, the lack of decision-making was not due to strategic intervention from issue opponents. Rather, the results hint to difficulties experienced by issue proponents to effectively link the topic to the core debate on the costs of the energy transition. When it comes to the material dimension, I find that a deterioration of the situation (as measured with both indicators) did indeed coincide with the emergence of the topic on the political agenda. However, more fine-grained analyses suggest that ideational elements intervened in this process. Concerning the decision agenda, no link can be established between the material dimension and non-decision-making. The dissertation has contributed to a better understanding of the complex mechanisms underlying policymaking. It has shown the merits of considering the ideational and the material dimension, and their impact on different agenda stages, conjointly.