The differential influences of European soft law on employment policies, processes, and institutional configurations in European Union member states

This study proposes a theoretical framework to understand why and how non-binding agreements (i.e., soft law) influence Member States in different ways. More specifically, the dissertation answers the following question---what domestic factors are linked to greater or lesser domestic internalization of European soft law on the policy area of employment? The research shows that contemporary accounts of European welfare state reform ought to consider the articulation of rules outside the realm of nation-states given that these rules have the power to subtly transform domestic policies and institutions. To address these issues, I focus on four types of internalization: (1) legal, (2) political, (3) intragovernmental, and (4) governmental-societal.; I find cross-national trends in how Member States internalize non-binding instruments. For instance, by framing certain labor market policies as 'good' or 'bad' and by pushing for domestic collaboration the supranational level has had an important influence on early stages of the policymaking process, such as agenda setting and problem definition. Yet, the intensity of the influence is not homogenous across countries. I assert that the degree to which soft law is internalized is mainly explained by two factors: (1) the nature of intra-governmental relations, and (2) the degree of ideational and institutional compatibility between domestic settings and soft rules. To sustain these arguments, I present data gathered in the EU, Spain, Belgium, and Sweden. In addition, I analyze cross-national and cross-temporal data on labor market policy spending and employment rates to assess the differential influence of non-binding measures on Western European Member States' labor market policies and settings.; This project contributes to the literatures on Europeanization and 'second image reversed' by developing theoretical propositions about the domestic factors that facilitate and hinder the internalization of 'foreign' non-binding regulations on Member States. These findings have important implications for the literature on compliance with international rules as they shed light on how and why soft law could be an important agent of domestic change. In addition, I specify the literature on multi-level governance by addressing how the 'nature of intra-governmental relations' determines the degree to which multilevel governance structures are developed in a state.