Policy Convergence in the UK and Germany: Beyond the Third Way?

Policy convergence and policy learning have emerged as central themes in the study of public policy in recent years. This book complements the rich literature on theoretical aspects as well as individual case studies by undertaking a systematic comparison of policy convergence between two specific countries, the UK and Germany. Both are member-states of the EU and face similar policy challenges across a number of policy sectors; as such, both are ideally suited to such a comparison. In particular, in the late 1990s, the social-democratic governments of both countries explicitly sought to develop common solutions under the heading of the ‘Third Way’. By including analyses of not only of institutions but also of key areas of domestic and foreign policy, this volume makes a unique contribution to the study of public policy in two of the EU’s key member-states. This book is also a dedication to Professor William Paterson, who has contributed immensely to the field of German Studies in Britain. This book was previously published as a special issue of German Politics