The Role of Formal and Informal Institutions in the Policy Process

Central and Eastern European countries have undergone a very rapid process of transition starting in the early to mid-1990s, not only to abandon the old communist ways of conducting politics but also to satisfy requirements for European Union (EU) membership. The institutional and legislative changes that have taken place have not necessarily been uniform, mainly because domestic settings have varied across the region. Thus, this chapter investigates the variation of institutions, actors and cultures of decision making in four new EU member states in order to gauge the effect they may have had on the transformation of gender equality policy. Moreover, the degree of pressure that the EU has placed on each country to adapt during the period of accession based on the level of misfit between existing domestic legislation and EU directives is questioned in this chapter. Has the external pressure been uniform across the region and across the two different policy areas, namely equal employment and reconciliation policy? Both the EU pressure and domestic factors can affect the ultimate outcome on policy adoption and implementation in Central and Eastern Europe.