Why Do Governments Struggle to Reduce Inequalities?

Co-authors: Michael Keating, Sean Kippin, Emily St Denny This paper draws on policy theories to frame and explain the ways in which policymakers, at different levels and scales of government, define and address inequalities across the European Union. The European Commission, plus national and subnational governments, use terms such as ‘cohesion’ and ‘spatial justice’ to identify aims and set the policy agenda, and earmarks funds to address some economic inequalities. Yet, it is notoriously difficult to define inequalities as a policy problem in a way that would be susceptible to the available policy instruments. This problem relates partly to its technical complexity and the way it cuts across all policy fields. However, it is also a politically charged term and the normative case to reduce inequalities is highly contested. Given its multifaceted nature, there has been a search for comprehensive approaches ‘joined-up’ policy responses. Yet policymaking inevitably takes place in a political environment, in which different actors have differing perspectives and priorities, no-one has full knowledge of the issue or power to solve it, and policy outcomes are not in the gift of any actor. The paper examines the ways in which governments can learn from each other, to reduce inequalities, when so many of these obstacles exist.