Power, ideas, and national preferences: Ireland and the FTT

Abstract

European countries have been required to formulate a national preference in relation to the EU Financial Transaction Tax. The two leading approaches to explaining how the financial sector makes its views felt in the political process–the structural power of the financial services sector based on potential disinvestment, and its instrumental power arising from direct political lobbying–fall short of providing a comprehensive account. The missing link is how and why policy-makers might be willing to adopt the priorities of key sectors of the financial services industry. We outline how three levels of ideational power might be at work in shaping outcomes, using Ireland as a case study. We argue that background systems of shared knowledge that are institutionalised in policy networks generated broad ideational convergence between the financial sector and policymakers, creating a policy paradigm over the priorities of industrial policy in general. Against that backdrop, debate over specific policy choices (policy instruments and policy settings) can leave room for a wider range of disagreement and indeed political and ideational contestation. Irish policymakers proved responsive to industry interests in the case of the FTT, but not for the reasons normally given.