Many argue that international norms influence government behavior, and that policies diffuse from country to country, because of idea exchanges within elite networks. However, politicians are not free to follow their foreign counterparts, because domestic constituencies constrain them. This...

In recent years, the European Union (EU) has begun a gradual shift from traditional regulatory policymaking toward more flexible methods of coordination. For instance, while directives setting minimum regulations once dominated EU employment policy, since 1997, the Open Method of Coordination...