Next stop Stockholm The role of ideas in

Next stop Stockholm? The role of ideas in shaping French

prostitution policy since 2002.

Emily St.Denny History and Politics, University of Stirling,

Stirling FK9 4LA.

Paper prepared for annual conference of the Political Studies Association, Belfast, 3-5 April 2012.

Abstract

Introduction

In April 2011, the French information mission on prostitution started a nationwide policy debate after calling for the implementation of a “Swedish model” of criminalization of the purchase of sexual services. However, despite presenting the Swedish law as a new and desirable policy alternative, the same French policy actors had made a previous unsuccessful attempt to bring about client criminalization almost a decade earlier in which they had criticized the Swedish version of this law. At that time the policy debate was monopolized by concerns over public order, immigration and insecurity. In this context, with residents anxious to see the visible signs of insecurity linked to prostitution in their neighborhoods dealt with, it was difficult for proponents of client criminalization to effectively push a policy alternative aimed, principally, at protecting individuals in prostitution. As a result, the outcome of the policy debate was the introduction of repressive anti-solicitation measures contained within the 2003 Domestic Security Bill. Therefore, what is now being presented as a novel approach to an old problem is in fact the outcome of an ideational Cinderella story: an idea once jettisoned for its purported weakness has subsequently been skillfully repackaged and presented as this year’s hottest policy import.

The diffusion of a policy like this one is usually approached through the prism of norm advocacy and policy learning. Such perspectives are well suited to apprehend the inter-linkages that allow the international dissemination of norms and policy ideas. In addition, they stress the importance of the compatibility of these norms and ideas with the domestic context in determining the likelihood of successful internalization. However, this case goes to show is that the compatibility and appeal of foreign norms and policy ideas with an existing domestic framework are heavily determined by domestic actors who utilize mechanisms such as framing and agenda-setting to construct ‘fit’ and legitimacy. Moreover, evidence drawn from the comparison of the different attempts by French policy actors to implement a policy of client criminalization over the last decade suggests that the political and institutional context in which these ideational struggles take place impact on the reform process through either exerting constraint or providing windows of opportunity. In particular, in cases where there is an emerging consensus that a current policy is inadequate but no policy crisis per se, the benefits of keeping the inadequate policy can often outweigh cost of change – especially when change entails uncertainty and risk.

Explaining the diffusion of Swedish prostitution policy: norm advocacy and policy transfer

The advent of a demand for a “Swedish model” of criminalization of the purchase of sexual services (CPSS) in France is suggestive of policy diffusion. Policy diffusion is the process by which a policy innovation “is communicated through certain channels over time among members of a social system” (Rogers 1995: 5). More particularly, we are in an instance of voluntary policy transfer “in which one nation or government imports knowledge of policies or programs that exist abroad” (Newmark 2002: 153). Moreover, the Swedish policy of CPSS has been strongly promoted on the international scene by Swedish policy actors (Hedh and Winberg 2010). The first prism through which to apprehend the diffusion of CPSS to France through policy transfer in the wake of strong international policy advocacy is therefore the literature on Swedish norm and policy influence abroad.

The first manner in which Sweden is seen as exerting an influence over other states, particularly those states outside the Nordic region,1 is derived from the constructivist international relations literature on states’ normative power.2

In particular, this literature has looked at Sweden’s capacity to promote international norms (Mouritzen 1995; Ingebritsen 2002) such as conflict prevention (Björkdahl 2008), social equality (True and Mintron 2001) and humanitarian solidarity (Ingebritsen 2002). The focus here is principally on the moral worthiness and inherent appeal of norms which heavily determine the manner in which they can be accommodated in existing domestic normative and ideational frameworks (Acharya 2004; Björkdahl 2008). In this sense, Swedish norm advocacy is non-coercive and relies on soft-power persuasion (Checkel 2005; Björkdahl 2008). Björkdahl argues, however, that ideational and normative ‘fit’ alone are insufficient to explain norm internalization in host countries (Björkdahl 2008). Close attention to the strategic use of mechanisms such as framing and agenda-setting is necessary to explain the domestic construction of ‘fit’ crucial to the adoption of international norms (Björkdahl 2008; Payne 2001).

The second manner in which Sweden is considered to influence other states is through policy learning and transfer.3 In processes of policy learning and transfer, it is generally considered that the first sphere of Swedish policy influence extends to other states within the Nordic region. Indeed, at the outcome of the crisis of the 1990s, Sweden was seen as holding the position of leader and innovator in the region, with other Nordic countries serving as “its first tier of followers” (Mouritzen 1995: 9). With the emergence of other Nordic states as strong international norm advocate, the extent to which this is still the case is highly debatable. Nevertheless, it is within the confines of the Nordic block that accounts of Swedish policy influence through norm diffusion and policy learning abound. Comparatively, accounts of the policy learning between Sweden and countries outside the Nordic bloc are less frequent. For example, the Swedish law of CPSS has been studied comparatively within

1

The Nordic region is understood as encompassing Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. 2_{Nor ati e po er is a or}

-generating and norm-spreading capacity exercised in order to change normative o i tio s a d to set or ati e sta dards through pro esses of or ad o a y. Björkdahl, A. (2008) p.136 3_{Poli y lear i g is he k o ledge a out poli ies, ad i istrati e arra ge e ts, i stitutio s a d ideas i o e}

the wider context of Scandinavian countries (Jakobsson and Kotsadam 2011; Bucken-Knapp and Karlsson Schaffer 2008; 2011), but its spread to countries outside this region has been overlooked. Yet, the advent of a demand for a “Swedish model” of CPSS in France suggests that Swedish policy influence reaches farther than Scandinavia or the Nordic bloc.

In the Swedish case, the norms, ideas and causal stories were interweaved by proponents of ban in such a way as to craft a “particularly effective discursive weapons” (Bucken-Knapp and Karlsson Schaffer 2011: 21) which served as a narrative with which to rally and consolidate support and which opponents found difficult to counter effectively. This is because, as Bucken-Knapp and Karlsson Schaffer argue, in the genesis of the Swedish law, “gender equality ideas [did not necessarily] constitute a sufficient condition in and of themselves to have resulted in CPSS. Rather, these ideas represent the principled beliefs grafted by pro-ban actors onto more broadly accepted causal stories of prostitutes as having abusive and vulnerable backgrounds” (Bucken-Knapp and Karlsson Schaffer 2011: 21). It is understandable, then, that in the face of the growing international interest in the Swedish approach to the ‘problem’ of prostitution, it is delicate to disentangle whether and to what extent it is either the normative or the programmatic aspects of this policy that are driving its spread. The policy is driven by conceptualizations of prostitution as the exploitation of women, and of prostitutes as victims of gender violence and inequality and undergirded by norms of gender equality. In cases like Norway, which instituted a similar ban in 2009, Bucken-Knapp and Karlsson argue that the reform process was predicated on different ideas than those driving the original Swedish version (2011). In France, on the other hand, regardless of the extent to which Swedish ideas and norms actually permeated the current debate, Sweden was almost systematically referred to as the source of knowledge and inspiration for this policy alternative.

its use as a symbolic, discursive and programmatic resource by French policy actors seeking to establish parallels between their project and the successful Swedish law.

The Puzzle: All aboard, next stop Stockholm.

Since it abolished the regulation of prostitution in 1960, France has evolved from a self-proclaimed “epitome of abolitionism” (Allwood 2004: 148) to a country eager to adopt a “Swedish model” demand-side ban on prostitution. In light of Sweden’s active promotion of client criminalization over the last decade (Hedh and Winberg 2010), recently bolstered by a positive official review,4 this development may not seem particularly surprising. What is surprising, though, is that despite being presented by the media and advocates as a new imported policy alternative in 2011, a number of French political actors had previously suggested criminalizing clients as early as 2002. At that time the proposed policy was not framed as an emulation of Sweden, in fact the Swedish model of CPSS was criticized as having brought about increased violence towards individuals in prostitution (Zimmermann 2002: 28). Nevertheless, the proposal was quickly quashed and a series of repressive anti-soliciting and anti-trafficking measures were adopted as part of the 2002 Domestic Security Bill.5 Less then a decade later, with growing consensus that the Domestic Security Bill has failed to deliver on its promises, the same policy actors have dusted off their proposal for CPSS and repackaged it.

The second bid for a demand-side ban on prostitution was initiated by the release of the report drafted by the French parliamentary information mission on prostitution in April 2011. This task force was headed by socialist parliamentarian Danielle Bousquet, who had called for CPSS eight years prior (Bousquet et.al. 2003). She was joined by others in the same case.6 The report concluded that, in order to fully live up to its commitment to abolitionism, France should implement a policy of criminalization of purchases of sexual services based on the Swedish law (Bousquet et.al. 2011: 231).7 In the report, the Swedish model of client criminalization is represented as the next logical step in French prostitution policy (Bousquet et.al. 2011: 231) since France already criminalizes the purchase of sexual services from minors, disabled and clearly vulnerable individuals.8 In addition, the Swedish model of client criminalization is presented as a progressive policy based on educating and sensitizing clients rather than on only punishing them. This led the writers of the report to describe the Swedish law as “a symbolic prohibition with pedagogical aims” (Bousquet et.al. 2011: 222).

4 _{In 2010, the final report of an official inquiry led by Justice Chancellor Anna Skarhed, evaluating the effects of}

the Swedish law from 1999 to 2008 concluded that the law worked since there was evidence of a reduction in street based prostitution and trafficking in Sweden. Report available at:

http://regeringen.se/sb/d/12634/a/149142 [accessed 15/02/12] 5

(2003) Law number 2003-239 of March 18th 2003 on domestic security 6

In 2002, parlementary deputy Marie-Jo Zimmerman suggested CPSS as an alternative to the anti-soliciting measures in the Domestic Security Bill. See M.-J. Zimmermann (2002)

7

Bousquet, D. et.al. (2011) p.231 8

The parliamentary mission had travelled extensively both domestically and abroad in order to take stock of the available policy ideas and instruments, and to establish the benefits and drawbacks of each with the aim of determining the best way forward for French prostitution policy. This initiative was undertaken in light of the perceived ineffectiveness and misguidedness of the current legislation (Danet and Guienne 2006). Indeed, as Jeffrey Legro posits, policy collapse does not necessarily entail the objective failure of a policy but can also come about as a result of collective expectations about outcomes and application not being met (2000). In this sense, “When expectations of what should happen are not matched by the consequences of experienced events, there is pressure for collective reflection and reassessment” (Legro 2000: 424). Subsequently, as a result of the perceived failure or “collapse” of the current policy, competing political actors were recently provided with an opportunity to inject alternative policy ideas in a debate no longer monopolized by an effective and efficient dominant orthodoxy (Legro 2000). Actors pushing these alternative policy ideas were therefore in a position to convince other political and institutional actors and the wider public that policy change is necessary, a process that amounts to the “social construction of the need to reform” (Cox 2001).

The latest debate over reforming French prostitution policy inscribes itself is part of a trajectory characterized as much by rupture as by continuity. Since it signed the 1949 United Nations Treaty on the “Elimination of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others” in 1960, France has instituted an abolitionist regime to deal with prostitution. On the one hand, abolitionist regimes tolerate the provision of sexual services for the sake of not revictimising individuals in prostitution, conceptualised as victims of gender violence and inequality; on the other, profiting from the prostitution of others and the exploitation of individuals in prostitution is criminalized. In accordance with this approach, France has dealt with the ‘problem’ of prostitution according to a two-pillared abolitionist policy framework (Allwood 2003). The first pillar is the criminalization of the exploitation of prostitution, that is to say the profiting of individuals from the prostitution of others (proxénétisme). The second pillar is the provision of social support to the ‘victims’ of

prostitution: the prostitutes. However, despite the government’s unwavering commitment to abolitionism, the policies implemented in its name have varied significantly over the last four decades. Policies premised on tolerance of prostitution between consenting adults have given way to some that all but outlaw street-based prostitution by targeting solicitation. Today what is proposed is the institution of a demand-side ban on prostitution based on the criminalization of clients, who have until recently remained largely absent from policy and legislation (Allwood 2003).

prostitution policy in France, this foundational principle has had to coexist with an increasingly ambiguous conception of what, exactly, abolitionism is. What started out as a movement to abolish the regulation of prostitution, that is to say the institution of prostitution, has evolved to entail the abolishment of prostitution itself, that is to say the phenomenon of prostitution (Maugère 2009; Maffesoli 2008). This goes some way to explaining the possibility of housing a number of different policies under the banner of abolitionism. In this sense, abolitionism, as a policy regime, is not a static blueprint laying out the specific policy instruments and programs required to attain the desired goal, but is instead being continually (re)constructed. Thus, recent developments in this area, starting with the official recommendation the state adopt CPSS, can be considered the latest attempt at introducing a new abolitionist policy framework based on a reinterpretation of abolitionist principles.

The first time the policy had been suggested policy actors seem to call for a homegrown approach to client criminalization, in this sense they rejected the Swedish model as a schema to emulate. This version went on to appear as the toothless alternative to repression at a time when the political debate was monopolized by concerns over insecurity, immigration and public order. Contrastingly, in 2011 CPSS was put forward as the efficient and logical next step in France’s commitment to abolishing prostitution directly inspired by a world-renown and successful initial model, the so-called ‘modèle suédois’. Norm advocacy and policy learning undoubtedly played a part in shaping the current French policy debate but it is also clear that alone they cannot account for the relatively successful repackaging of an unpopular policy idea in the span of a decade. Instead, this development suggests that, after an initial setback, actors went on to use a new strategy articulated around a “narrative of importation”. This served to reframe the existing abolitionist discourse equating prostitution with gender inequality and men’s exploitation of female victims. Framing refers to the act of integrating ideas about policy problems, goals and solutions into a coherent “interpretative schemata” (Snow and Benford 2000: 614) in a manner “intended to mobilize potential adherents and constituents, to garner bystander support, and to demobilize antagonists” (Snow and Benford 1988: 198). As a result of these new tactics the reframed policy ideas have benefited from the perceived success of the Swedish law in its domestic setting.

Ideas, agendas and frames: actualizing reform in the wake of policy collapse

will be a reform of French prostitution policy in the near future, and as a corollary, over what shape it would take.

Identifying the nature of the current struggle is essential to understanding the political processes at play. Indeed, there are a number of preconditions to policy change. Firstly there must be the collapse (real, perceived or constructed) of the current policy. This is illustrated in the case at hand by the mounting criticism of current legislation. In order for this collapse to open up the door to possible replacement through reform, key decision-makers must be convinced of the desirability of such change. Then, in addition this social construction of the need to reform, the issue must also be placed on the political agenda, that is to say on the “list of subjects or problems to which government […] officials, are paying some attention to at any given time” (Kingdon 1995: 3). First theorized by John Kingdon (1984), agenda setting sees the convergence of three different streams – problems, policies and politics – as the key to opening up windows of opportunity during which policy entrepreneurs are able to couple their policy solution to a problem. Indeed, it is only by convincing those with the power to authorize it that reform is of immediate importance and that one solution is better than the others, that the requisite institutional procedures can be set into motion, and the necessary resources allocated. In particular, the ideational struggles that actors venture into when attempting to set the agenda are crucial since the collapse of the old dominant idea set which underpinned the old policy is essential to bring about reform (Legro 2000). This clears the way for policy actors to aggregate around a new set of idea which forms the basis for a new policy. In such instances, ideas can act as cognitive filters which “concern both self -public order, with new ones conceptualizing prostitution as exploitation of women.

This effort was concretized on December 6th 2011, when French parliamentary deputies unanimously9 approved a non-binding motion reaffirming the country’s abolitionist position in matters of prostitution. The resolution has been put to the National Assembly in June by members of the information mission and therefore can be seen as the first step their plan to institute a policy of CPSS as called for in their report. Specifically, the motion called for the National Assembly to “reaffirm France’s abolitionist position, the object of which is, in time, a society without prostitution […and] consider that, in light of the constraint that is most often the cause of entry into prostitution, of the violence inherent to this activity […], that prostitution cannot, in any case, be deemed a professional activity.”10

The vote was largely symbolic: it serves to loudly and unequivocally restate the National Assembly’s

9 _{The vote was undertaken as a symbolic gesture where all the leaders of the different political groups, which}

house the different political parties, spoke for the deputies they represent. All leaders of the groups expressed the support of their deputies.

10

Proposition de Résolution réaffirmant la position abolitionniste de la France en matière de prostitution 9 June 2011 presented by Danielle Bousquet, Guy Geoffroy, Jean-Marc Ayrault, Christian Jacob, François Sauvadet, Yves Cochet and marie-Jo Zimmermann. Available at:

commitment to the eradication of prostitution. The emblematic and foundational purpose of this vote was made apparent by Guy Geoffroy, the Commission’s rapporteur, in an interview prior to the vote. Geoffroy states that “The resolution is the first step and we decided, symbolically, that as of the moment of the adoption of this resolution, adoption which is not in doubt, to deliver a legislative proposal that will pave the way to the responsibilization of the client, which will involve, if required, penalization” (2011). In this way the non-binding motion does not introduce any changes to existing measures aimed at prostitution; instead, it serves to lay the foundations for the pending legislative proposal to punish clients of prostitution.

At the outset of the vote in the national assembly, what is clear is that there is an overwhelming consensus among French political actors that abolitionism is the only legitimate and acceptable position for the country to take in the matter of prostitution. What is less clear, however, is whether or not the same consensus will apply to the vote for the legislative bill which would make clients liable to a two-month prison sentence and a €3 750 fine.11 In this sense, despite highlighting the emergence of a coalition in support of a set of ideas and objectives, the vote in itself gives no indication as to whether or not the same consensus would apply to the vote for the legislative bill criminalizing clients. It will be crucial for proponents of CPSS to build on the symbolic vote in order to concretize a policy shift away from toleration and towards prohibition.12 The key will be in framing CPSS as compatible with the ongoing abolitionist regime and convincing policymakers that it offers an appropriate and beneficial new approach to one of the country’s oldest ‘problems’. This is because, without this consolidation of a new set of ideas to replace the ones propping up the collapsed policy, the likelihood of reform decreases significantly as the incumbent policy will continue to exist as a ‘default mechanism’ (Legro 2000). Indeed, in the absence of a new dominant ideational orthodoxy, policies that are perceived to be failing will, at most, be subjected to adjustment rather than replacement since there is no new alternative consensus around which to justify the investment necessary to replace or overhaul them. Consequently, new ideas around which a strong coalition is aggregated are frequently the distinguishing factor between a current inadequate policy being continued, despite its perceived deficiencies, and the emergence of a new policy. The reasons for this can be found in the historical institutional literature on policy change which most effectively lays bare the mechanisms and reasons for the persistence of policies even in instances where they are

The devil you don’t know: Ideas, path dependence and policy reform

Though defined more or less broadly by different authors, institutions can holistically be considered “the formal and informal procedures, routines, norms and conventions embedded in the organizational structure of the polity […and] promulgated by formal organization” (Hall and Taylor 1996: 938). They are argued to confer stability and constancy to the policy-making process because they serve to regularize politics by enshrining rules that govern decision-making and problem solving. Institutions can therefore constitute important constraints on the policy process. Traditional institutional approaches that consider institutions as “neutral transmission belt[s] for political action” (John 1998: 38) have been largely overtaken by newer institutional approaches that are sensitive to the constitutive role and constructed nature of institutions. In particular, historical institutionalism foregrounds the historical contingency of policymaking and considers time and sequencing to be important variables in determining policy development. In historical institutional approaches, constraint is exerted by processes of path dependence, that is to say the phenomenon whereby current and future decisions, states and action are predicated on previous decisions, states and actions (Pierson 2004). The logic of increasing returns is particularly constraining. Increasing returns refers to the self-reinforcing process that sees deviation from a path made harder with every step taken because the relative benefits of staying on track increasingly outweigh the costs of changing paths and starting from scratch (Sewell 1996; Pierson 2004). In this sense, path dependence can explain why sometimes, in cases where policies are no longer optimally efficient or appropriate, change does not occur: the relative benefits of staying on the path, inefficient as it may be, outweigh the costs of starting over. Put another way: in conditions of uncertainty and in the face of the high costs of starting anew, it is frequently considered wise to stay with ‘the devil you know’ rather than to take a chance with ‘the devil you don’t’.

The key to reform, then, seems to hinge on reducing uncertainty and, in so doing, reducing the risk of investment in a new policy. In moments of uncertainty, ideas appear essential in determining policy choices (Hogan and Doyle 2007; Carstensen 2001; Béland 2010; Kingdon 1995; Peter, Pierre and King 2005; Blyth 2001; 2002). This is because uncertainty amounts to a “period of flux” (Hogan and Doyle 2007) in which windows of opportunity appear and during which policy entrepreneurs (Kingdon 1995), wishing to see their preferred policy implemented at the outcome of a process of reform will challenge the prevailing policy paradigm and present an alternative idea-set with which to replace it (Legro 2000). In 2002 there was never much uncertainty – the prostitution policy debate was monopolized by law-and-order concerns and there was little or no room to manoeuvre an alternative proposal onto the political agenda. In 2011, however, a vacuum emerges around the collapsing current policy in which an appropriate alternative stands a good chance. In such a context policy learning can be used as part of information gathering in view of decreasing uncertainty and, as such, is a means of actualizing reform.

parallel between the concerns about the well-being of the “victims” of prostitution that are so central to contemporary French abolitionism and the ideas of gender equality and prostitution as exploitation that underpinned the Swedish debate on client penalization (Mathieu 2004). The ideational compatibility between Swedish norms and ideas and the French abolitionist project is highlighted by the authors of the report who state that:

“[...] the ambition of an advanced democracy can only be, in the fullness of time, the disappearance of prostitution. [...] the goal, thus, is to determine which policy is respectful of the rights recognised to all human beings while allowing us to move towards this objective [...]. What is more, in light of both our fundamental principles and the Swedish experience, it appears that making clients responsible is essential to this conciliation.” (Bousquet et.al 2011: 231)

Such a discourse would not have been possible in the 2002 policy debate which was dominated by concerns over law and order and the conceptualization of prostitutes as threats to public order. The perspective of ‘fit’, therefore, appears as an incontrovertible ingredient of constructing a consensus around a new set of policy ideas. But fit is not an objective and immutable phenomenon, nor does it operate as the only constraint on successful integration of new and foreign ideas into debates over policy reform. Indeed, what stands out clearly from the current attempt by certain French policy actors to frame a proposal for CPSS as inspired by the Swedish model is the importance of functional and symbolic legitimacy gained from imitating a successful policy antecedent.

The symbolic and discursive value of the model and ‘narrative of importation’

In particular, the recurrence of the term “modèle Suédois” in French policy debates points to its use in political discourse as a cognitive shortcut depicting an ideal type of policy regime from which domestic French political actors can draw inspiration. This is because policy related learning “involves scanning programs existing elsewhere, producing a conceptual model of a program of interest, and comparing the problems of the existing program which have occasioned dissatisfaction” (Bennett and Howlett 1992: 284). The model, in this sense, becomes a useful unit of comparison for political actors because it allows them to learn both positive lessons about what to do, and negative lessons about what not to do. In contemporary French political debate, foreign models emerged as an important discursive resource during the second round of the 2007 election campaign (Fitoussi and Laurent 2008; Andersson 2009). At its worst, references to other national models in political discourse borders on demagoguery or the rhetorical peddling of clichés; at its best, the use of national policy models becomes a valuable symbolic resource for policy entrepreneurs seeking to utilize images and ideas to maximize the chances of their favored policy ideas being selected over competing alternatives.

This explains, in part, the strategic value in making explicit references to the “Swedish model” of prostitution policy for proponents of CPSS in France. Indeed, in this case, references to the “Swedish model” are intended to be synonymous with gender equality, with a strong, unique, recognizable, pioneering effort to protect victims and redress power asymmetries. This is clear in the CPSS law proposal which states that:

“clients were made liable for the first time in 1999 in Sweden, a pioneer in sexual liberation [… and] progressive in the domain of social issues. Those who fight against making clients responsible on [the basis that it is the “product an exacerbated prudery” and “signals the will to see a moral sexual order restored”] are therefore fighting the wrong battle as, far from situating themselves at the forefront of the protection of liberties against a moralizing State, they defend a system in which men […] should have the right to dispose with the bodies of women as they see fit.” (Law proposal number 4057, Bousquet et.al. 2011: 2)

Overall, the equation of the Swedish model of CPSS as a successful and globally recognizable policy entails that aligning oneself with this model should allow France to reap some of the benefits Sweden is considered to have gained in implementing this policy. Consequently, the explicit reference to the use of learning and transfer by political actors is intended to frame domestic policy ideas in such a way as to legitimize them and increase their chances of success.

Conclusion

is forwards and what is backwards when it comes to societal development” (1995: 9). However, this paper has argued that, in addition to self-confidently teaching its neighbors and the rest of the world, Sweden has, thanks to the accomplished promotion of its model, also become a resource for French actors seeking to generate credibility and legitimacy for their preferred policy alternative. Traditional approaches to non-coercive policy diffusion postulate the inherent worthiness of foreign norms and ideas and their compatibility with the domestic normative and ideational framework in the host country as determinants of successful internalization. Evidence of an evolution in the framing of a policy of CPSS from ‘homegrown’ to an emulation of the ‘Swedish model’ suggests that ‘fit’ is not immutable and that actors can utilize mechanisms such as framing and agenda setting in order to repackage initially unappealing policy elements gleaned abroad.

In addition, this process of manipulation cannot be divorced from the domestic political and institutional context in which ideational struggles over policy reform take place. Indeed, the first time French policy actors had attempted to introduce CPSS as a policy option their efforts were thwarted in a debate monopolized by concerns over insecurity and public order. In this context a homegrown approach focused on client criminalization and the provision of support to the ‘victims’ of prostitution appeared a poor solution to the problem of increased visibility of street prostitution and the influx of foreign prostitutes on in residential areas. A decade later the repressive anti-soliciting measures set up to deal with this policy issue are increasingly considered as misguided and inconsistently applied. Because collective expectations have not been met, a window of opportunity has opened for competing policy actors to call for reform and introduce their preferred policy alternatives into the debate. In this sense, the current policy debate is indicative of a struggle over whether or not there will be reform and therefore constitutes an opportunity for policy actors convince key decision makers of the necessity and benefits of reform. In this process, the reference to an ulterior successful policy model has provided proponents with a credible image with which to reduce uncertainty linked to expected outcomes and benefits.

This has been possible because the Swedish ‘model’ has become synonymous with success and credibility in prostitution policy by virtue of being a strong and respected norm advocate (Björkdahl 2008: 139). Moreover, it stands out as the country which first decided to punish the clients of prostitution in a bid to eradicate it and, therefore, as a leader in prostitution policy (Gould 2001). Concurrently, abolitionist French policy actors, spearheaded by socialist deputies, have had their project of redefining the meaning of French abolitionism vindicated. The traditional tensions between the abolition of the regulation of prostitution and the abolition of prostitution itself have been resolved with a unanimous vote reaffirming the country’s commitment to the eradication of prostitution. This has allowed French policy actors seeking to institute a policy of client criminalization to capitalize on the potent image of the ‘Swedish model’ in order to begin convincing key political actors that not only are their policy ideas credible and applicable but also that they fit appropriately with the French state’s commitment to abolitionism. In fact, a “Swedish model” of CPSS is represented by advocated as the self-evident next step for a country that perceives itself as being at the vanguard of prostitution policy. Nevertheless, the extent to which this strategy has been successful will be determined in the next year when parliamentarians will be asked to vote on a bill which would make clients of prostitution liable to a € 3 750 fine and two months imprisonment.13

13

Bibliography

Acharya, Amitav (2004) “How Ideas Spread: Whose Norms Matter? Norm Localization and Institutional Change in Asian Regionalism” in International Organization 58(2): 239-275

Allwood, Gill (2003) “Sarkozy’s Domestic Security Bill: war on prostitutes not on prostitution?” in Modern and Contemporary France, 11(2): 205-212

 (2004) “Prostitution debates in France” in Contemporary Politics, 10(2): 145-157

 (2008) “The Construction of Prostitutes and Clients in French policy Debates” in Vanessa E. Munro and Marina Della Giusta (eds) Demanding Sex: Critical

Reflections on the Regulation of Prostitution, Hampshire; Burlington: Ashgate. Pp: 67-82

Andersson, Jenny (2009) “Nordic Nostalgia and Nordic Light: the Swedish Model as Utopia 1930-2007” in Scandinavian Journal of History, 34(3): 229-245

Baumgartner, Frank R. and Bryan D. Jones (1993) Agendas and Instability in American Politics, Chicago: University of Chicago Press

Béland, Daniel (2010) “The Idea of Power and the Role of Ideas” in Political Studies Review,

8(2): 145-154

Bennett, Colin J. And Michael Howlett (1992) ‘The lessons of learning: Reconciling theories of policy learning and policy change’ in Policy Sciences, 25(3): 275-294

Benford, Robert D. and David A. Snow (1988) “Ideology, frame resonance, and participant mobilization” in International Social Movements Research, 1: 197 - 218

 (2000) “Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and Assessment” in

Annual Review of Sociology, 26: 611 - 639

Björkdahl, Annika (2008) “Norm advocacy: a small state strategy to influence the EU” in

Blyth, Mark (2001) “The Transformation of the Swedish Model: Economic ideas, Distributional Conflict, and Institutional Change” in World Politics, 54(1): 1-26

 (2002) Great Transformations: Economic Ideas and Institutional Change in the Twentieth Century, Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.

Bousquet, Danielle et.al (2011) Commission des Lois Constitutionelles, de la Législation et de l’Administration Générale de la République, en conclusion des travaux d’une mission d’information sur la prostitution en France (13/04/2011) Rapport d’Information à

l’Assemblée Nationale n° 3334.

Bousquet, Danielle, Christophe Caresche and Martine Lignière-Cassou (2003) “Oui, abolitionnistes!” in Le Monde, 16th January 2003.

Bucken-Knapp, Gregg and Johan Karlsson Schaffer (2011) “The Same Policy, But Different Ideas: The Ideational Underpinnings of the Norwegian and Swedish Bans on the Purchase of Sexual Services” 2nd European Conference on Politics and Gender, Budapest, Hungary 12-15 January 2011.

 (2008) “Prostitution Policy Reform and the Causal Role of Ideas: A Comparative Study of Policy-Making in the Nordic Countries” in Statsvetenskaplig tidskrift,

110(1): 59-65

Carstensen, Martin (2011) “Ideas are Not as Stable as Political Scientists Want Them to Be: A Theory of Incremental Ideational Change” Political Studies, 59(3): 596-615

Checkel, Jeffrey T. (2005) “International Institutions and Socialization in Europe: Introduction and Framework” in International Organization, 59(4): 801-826

Cox, Robert Henry (2001) “The social construction of an imperative: why welfare reform happened in Denmark and the Netherlands but not in Germany” in World Politics, 53(3): 463-498

DiMaggio, Paul J. and Walter W. Powell (1983) “The Iron Cage Revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective reality in organizational fields” in American Sociological Review,

48: 147-160 (p. 149)

 Eds. (1991) The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis, Chicago; London: University of Chicago press.

Dolowitz, David P. and David Marsh (2000) “Learning from Abroad: The Role of Policy Transfer in Contemporary Policy-Making” in Governance, 13(1): 5-23

Fitoussi, Jean-Paul and Éloi Laurent (2008) “Hawk and handsaws: What can France learn from the “Nordic Model”?” Center for European Studies Working Paper Series #168 Paper prepared for the conference “The Nordic Model: Solutions for Continental Europe’s

Problems?” Center for European Studies, Harvard University, May 9-10, 2008.

Geoffroy, Guy (2011) in an interview with TF1 (06/12/11) available at:

http://lci.tf1.fr/france/societe/abolir-ou-encadrer-la-prostitution-les-deputes-se-penchent-sur-6858911.html [accessed 06/12/2011]

Gould, Arthur (2001) “The Criminalisation of Buying Sex: the Politics of Prostitution in Sweden” in Journal of Social Policy, 30(3): 437-456

Hall, Peter A. and Rosemary C. R. Taylor (1996) “Political Science and the Three New Institutionalisms” in Political Studies, 44(5): 936-957

Hansen, Randall and Desmond King (2001) “Eugenic Ideas, Political Interests, and Policy Variance: Immigration and Sterilization Policy in Britain and the U.S.” in World Politics,

53(January): 237-63

Hedh, Anna and Margareta Winberg (2010) “Vi tar strid mot sexhandeln i Europa” in SvD,

14th December 2010 available at:

http://www.svd.se/opinion/brannpunkt/vi-tar-strid-mot-sexhandeln-i-europa_5808829.svd [accessed 25/01/12]

Ingebritsen, Christine (2002) “Norm Entrepreneurs, Scandinavia’s Role in World Politics” in

Cooperation and Conflict, 37(1): 11-23

Jakobsson, Niklas and Andreas Kotsadam (2011) “Gender Equity and Prostitution: An Investigation of Attitudes in Norway and Sweden” in Feminist Economics,17(1)” 31-58

John, Peter (1998) Analysing Public Policy, London: Continuum

Kingdon, John W. (1984) Agendas, Alternatives and Public Policy, Michigan: University of Michigan Press

 (1995) Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policy, 2nd edition. New York: HarperCollins College Publishers

Lawler, Peter (1997) ‘Scandinavian Exceptionalism and European Union” in Journal of Common Market Studies, 35(4): 565-94

Legro, Jeffrey W. (2000) “The Transformation of Policy Ideas” in American Journal of Political Science, 44(3): 419-432

Le Foulon, Marie-Laure (2006) Le rebond du modèle Scandinave, Paris: Editions Lignes de Repères.

Maffesoli, Sarah-Marie (2008) “Le Traitement Jurique de la Prostitution” in Sociétés, 99(1): 33-46

Mathieu, Lilian (2004) “The Debate on Prostitution in France: A Conflict between

Abolitionism, Regulation and Prohibition” in Journal of Contemporary European Studies,

12(2): 153-163

Maugère, Amélie (2009) Les Politiques de la Prostitution: Du Moyen Age au XXIe siècle,

Nouvelle Bibliothèque des Thèses: Sciences Politiques. Dalloz: Paris

Newmark, Adam J. (2002) “An Integrated Approach to Policy Transfer and Diffusion” in

Review of Policy Research, 19(2): 153-180

Payne, Rodger A. (2001) “Persuasion, Frames and Norm Construction” in European Journal of International Relations, 7(1): 37-61

Peters, B. Guy, Jon Pierre and Desmond S. King (2005) “The Politics of Path Dependency: Political Conflict in Historical Institutionalism” in The Journal of Politics, 67(4): 1275-1300

Pierson, Paul (2004) Politics in Time: History, Institutions, and Social Analysis, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press

Radaelli, Claudio M. (2000) “Policy-transfer in the European Union: Institutional isomorphism as a source of legitimacy” in Governance, 13(1): 25-43

Rogers, Everett M. (1995) Diffusion of Innovation 4th edition. New York: The Free Press.

Rose, Richard. (1991) “What Is Lesson-Drawing?” in Journal of Public Policy, 11(1): 3-30

Sewell, William H. (1996) “Three Temporalities: Towards an Eventful Sociology” in Terrance J. MacDonald (ed.) The Historic Turn in the Human Sciences, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. pp: 245-80

Snow, D.A. and R.D. Benford (1988) “Ideology, Frame Resonance and Participant Mobilization,” in International Social Movement Research 1:197-219.

 (2000) “Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and Assessment” in

Annual Review of Sociology, 26: 611- 639

True, Jacqui and Michael Mintron (2001) “Transnational Networks and Policy Diffusion: The Case of Gender Mainstreaming” in International Studies Quarterly, 45(1): 27-57.

le sénat après declaration d’urgence (n. 381), pour la sécurité intérieure

http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/12/rap-info/i0459.asp [accessed 26/08/2011]

Laws and motions:

 (2002) law number 2002-305 modifying article 225-12-1 of the Penal Code on infringements of the dignity of persons to penalise clients of minors and vulnerable individuals.

 (2003) Law number 2003-239 of March 18th 2003 on domestic security

 (2011) Law proposal number 4057 “visant à responsabiliser les clients de la

prostitution et à renforcer la protection des victimes de la traite des êtres humans et du proxénétisme” presented 7th December 2011 by Mrs Danielle Bousquet and Mr. Guy Geoffroy.

 (2011) Proposition de Résolution réaffirmant la position abolitionniste de la France en matière de prostitution–Motion reaffirming France’s abolitionist position in