Ece Özlem Atikcan
Biographic Data
| ID | 3065503 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ece Özlem Atikcan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ece Özlem |
| FAMILY NAME | Atikcan |
| SIGNATURE | ATIKCAN E Ö |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Warwick |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3269-613X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 40 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 16 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
An Endogenous ‘Refugee Crisis’
Migration governance in Europe is shaped by contesting frames that reflect deeper tensions between security, humanitarianism and sovereignty. This article traces how these frames evolve over time and how the so‐called refugee ‘crisis’ reconfigures framing dynamics and actor relations between 2000 and 2020. Rather than treating the crisis as an exogenous shock, we adopt a constructivist and relational perspective that recognises crisis framing as …
Discourse Networks and Contentious Global Public Policy
This article develops a comprehensive typology of policy frame trajectories and proposes a research agenda to explain the complex, evolving dynamics of framing in European and global public policy‐making. Challenging static and instrumentalist views, frames are conceptualised as malleable, relational and contingent, unfolding through processes such as emergence, diffusion, contestation, co‐optation, drain and disappearance. The typology distingui…
Tracing Frame Trajectories in Policy Debates
This special issue explores the evolving trajectories of policy frames in European and global public policy, emphasising the non‐linear processes through which frames emerge, diffuse and become salient or silenced over time. The contributions focus on how actors in governance, ranging from governments and international organisations to civil society, form discourse coalitions and compete to define policy issues and solutions. Unlike the existing …
Framing conditionality in times of crisis
How consistent is the European Union’s (EU) response to the growing democratic decline in its neighbourhood? While existing research has examined the domestic drivers of autocratisation in the neighbourhood and its impact on the EU’s transformative power, the variability and contestation within the EU’s institutional response remain underexplored. In this article, we aim to address this gap by analysing how the European Commission, the European P…
On the determinants of referendum boycotts in Europe
In the contemporary ‘age of participation’, referendums are often celebrated as cornerstones of democratic engagement. Yet political parties sometimes take the seemingly paradoxical step of calling for referendum boycotts, urging citizens to abstain from direct democratic processes. This paper investigates the conditions under which such boycott calls occur and the motivations behind them. While previous research has largely focused on single cas…
Spatial Imaginaries and the Geopolitics of Trade
This Special Issue explores the spatial politics of trade through a constructivist lens. While recent debates in international trade policy have emphasised geostrategic concerns, we argue that space in trade governance is not merely a geopolitical backdrop, but a politically contested arena. The establishment, management, and contestation of trade relations are shaped by, and contribute to, social constructions of space, including the power struc…
Politicisation, business lobbying, and the design of preferential trade agreements
Our paper addresses the question of how governments respond to the politicisation of preferential trade agreements (PTA). How have governments responded to business interest mobilisation while negotiating PTAs? Moreover, if there has been an increase in the salience of a trade agreement, has this changed the government response? First, we assess politicisation in terms of the mobilisation patterns of private sector interests during PTA negotiatio…
Moral framing and referendum politics
Frames enable individuals to locate and label occurrences within their life space and the world at large. In this article, we study the framing of moral issues with the help of Moral Foundations Theory and by relying on rich qualitative data. Existing studies are primarily based on laboratory experiments, without a focus on how such processes are shaped in a real‐life setting. Through a detailed study of the 2018 Irish referendum on abortion, we …
Research Methods in the Social Sciences
Framing Risky Choices
Choosing lobbying sides
Despite the impressive amount of empirical research on lobbying, a fundamental question remains overlooked. How do interest groups choose to lobby different sides of an issue? We argue that how groups choose sides is a function of firm-level economic activity. By studying a highly salient regulatory issue, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and using a novel data set of lobbying activities, we reveal that a group’s ma…
Political controversy about international economic agreements
The withdrawal of the UK from the EU, if and when it occurs, will likely imply that Canada must conclude a new bilateral trade agreement with the UK. In light of recent trends toward an increasing politicization of trade negotiations, this policy brief assesses the respects in which a Canada-UK agreement could become politically controversial. Drawing on explanations for the politicization of recent trade deals, it identifies potential flashpoint…
Agenda control in EU referendum campaigns
European Union (EU) referendums provide unique opportunities to study voters’ attitudes toward a distant level of governance. Scholars have long tried to understand whether EU referendum results reflect domestic (dis‐)satisfaction with the incumbent governments or actual attitudes toward the Union. Finding evidence supporting both domestic and European factors, the recent focus has thus turned to referendum campaigns. Recent studies emphasise the…
Diffusion in Referendum Campaigns
The problem of cross-case influences is crucial in the analysis of social phenomena. Is a referendum held in a state entirely a ‘domestic’ event? No work has applied diffusion theories to the study of referendum campaigns. In this paper, I show diffusion effects among the 2005 Constitutional Treaty referendums. Spain, France, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg used the referendum method to ratify the European Constitution. Based on 85 interviews wit…
The Puzzle of Double Referendums in the European Union
If voters are asked to vote twice on the same issue in a single year, why might they initially reject the proposal but then vote to approve it the second time? This has happened three times in EU referendums (Denmark on the Maastricht Treaty in 1992–93 and Ireland on the Nice Treaty in 2001–02 and the Lisbon Treaty in 2008–09). No work has yet compared all six of these referendum campaigns. I focus on the campaign strategies of the Yes and No sid…
Referendum Campaigns in Polarized Societies
Can referendum mechanism be used in deeply polarized societies without invoking existing cleavages? This question is tackled by studying two recent Turkish constitutional referenda, which took place in 2007 and 2010. Turkish society and politics are highly polarized along the secular versus pro-Islam axis. Based on an in-depth study of the campaign materials, media content analysis, and survey data from both cases, it is demonstrated that althoug…
European Union and Minorities
Europeanization literature does not bring together member and candidate countries in a single comparative framework. Focusing on minority governance, an issue area which is not part of the acquis, I compare Europeanization in these two sets of countries. In the candidate countries the EU triggers a top‐down change in minority language policies through conditionality. Alternatively, in the member countries it provides the space for a bottom‐up cha…
Referendum Campaigns in Polarized Societies
Can referendum mechanism be used in deeply polarized societies without invoking existing cleavages? This question is tackled by studying two recent Turkish constitutional referenda, which took place in 2007 and 2010. Turkish society and politics are highly polarized along the secular versus pro-Islam axis. Based on an in-depth study of the campaign materials, media content analysis, and survey data from both cases, it is demonstrated that althoug…
Choosing lobbying sides
Despite the impressive amount of empirical research on lobbying, a fundamental question remains overlooked. How do interest groups choose to lobby different sides of an issue? We argue that how groups choose sides is a function of firm-level economic activity. By studying a highly salient regulatory issue, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and using a novel data set of lobbying activities, we reveal that a group’s ma…
Moral framing and referendum politics
Frames enable individuals to locate and label occurrences within their life space and the world at large. In this article, we study the framing of moral issues with the help of Moral Foundations Theory and by relying on rich qualitative data. Existing studies are primarily based on laboratory experiments, without a focus on how such processes are shaped in a real‐life setting. Through a detailed study of the 2018 Irish referendum on abortion, we …
Agenda control in EU referendum campaigns
European Union (EU) referendums provide unique opportunities to study voters’ attitudes toward a distant level of governance. Scholars have long tried to understand whether EU referendum results reflect domestic (dis‐)satisfaction with the incumbent governments or actual attitudes toward the Union. Finding evidence supporting both domestic and European factors, the recent focus has thus turned to referendum campaigns. Recent studies emphasise the…
European Union and Minorities
Europeanization literature does not bring together member and candidate countries in a single comparative framework. Focusing on minority governance, an issue area which is not part of the acquis, I compare Europeanization in these two sets of countries. In the candidate countries the EU triggers a top‐down change in minority language policies through conditionality. Alternatively, in the member countries it provides the space for a bottom‐up cha…
Political controversy about international economic agreements
The withdrawal of the UK from the EU, if and when it occurs, will likely imply that Canada must conclude a new bilateral trade agreement with the UK. In light of recent trends toward an increasing politicization of trade negotiations, this policy brief assesses the respects in which a Canada-UK agreement could become politically controversial. Drawing on explanations for the politicization of recent trade deals, it identifies potential flashpoint…
Diffusion in Referendum Campaigns
The problem of cross-case influences is crucial in the analysis of social phenomena. Is a referendum held in a state entirely a ‘domestic’ event? No work has applied diffusion theories to the study of referendum campaigns. In this paper, I show diffusion effects among the 2005 Constitutional Treaty referendums. Spain, France, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg used the referendum method to ratify the European Constitution. Based on 85 interviews wit…
The Puzzle of Double Referendums in the European Union
If voters are asked to vote twice on the same issue in a single year, why might they initially reject the proposal but then vote to approve it the second time? This has happened three times in EU referendums (Denmark on the Maastricht Treaty in 1992–93 and Ireland on the Nice Treaty in 2001–02 and the Lisbon Treaty in 2008–09). No work has yet compared all six of these referendum campaigns. I focus on the campaign strategies of the Yes and No sid…
European Union and Minorities
Europeanization literature does not bring together member and candidate countries in a single comparative framework. Focusing on minority governance, an issue area which is not part of the acquis, I compare Europeanization in these two sets of countries. In the candidate countries the EU triggers a top‐down change in minority language policies through conditionality. Alternatively, in the member countries it provides the space for a bottom‐up cha…
Referendum Campaigns in Polarized Societies
Can referendum mechanism be used in deeply polarized societies without invoking existing cleavages? This question is tackled by studying two recent Turkish constitutional referenda, which took place in 2007 and 2010. Turkish society and politics are highly polarized along the secular versus pro-Islam axis. Based on an in-depth study of the campaign materials, media content analysis, and survey data from both cases, it is demonstrated that althoug…
Diffusion in Referendum Campaigns
The problem of cross-case influences is crucial in the analysis of social phenomena. Is a referendum held in a state entirely a ‘domestic’ event? No work has applied diffusion theories to the study of referendum campaigns. In this paper, I show diffusion effects among the 2005 Constitutional Treaty referendums. Spain, France, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg used the referendum method to ratify the European Constitution. Based on 85 interviews wit…
The Puzzle of Double Referendums in the European Union
If voters are asked to vote twice on the same issue in a single year, why might they initially reject the proposal but then vote to approve it the second time? This has happened three times in EU referendums (Denmark on the Maastricht Treaty in 1992–93 and Ireland on the Nice Treaty in 2001–02 and the Lisbon Treaty in 2008–09). No work has yet compared all six of these referendum campaigns. I focus on the campaign strategies of the Yes and No sid…
Agenda control in EU referendum campaigns
European Union (EU) referendums provide unique opportunities to study voters’ attitudes toward a distant level of governance. Scholars have long tried to understand whether EU referendum results reflect domestic (dis‐)satisfaction with the incumbent governments or actual attitudes toward the Union. Finding evidence supporting both domestic and European factors, the recent focus has thus turned to referendum campaigns. Recent studies emphasise the…
Choosing lobbying sides
Despite the impressive amount of empirical research on lobbying, a fundamental question remains overlooked. How do interest groups choose to lobby different sides of an issue? We argue that how groups choose sides is a function of firm-level economic activity. By studying a highly salient regulatory issue, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and using a novel data set of lobbying activities, we reveal that a group’s ma…
Political controversy about international economic agreements
The withdrawal of the UK from the EU, if and when it occurs, will likely imply that Canada must conclude a new bilateral trade agreement with the UK. In light of recent trends toward an increasing politicization of trade negotiations, this policy brief assesses the respects in which a Canada-UK agreement could become politically controversial. Drawing on explanations for the politicization of recent trade deals, it identifies potential flashpoint…
Framing Risky Choices
Research Methods in the Social Sciences
Politicisation, business lobbying, and the design of preferential trade agreements
Our paper addresses the question of how governments respond to the politicisation of preferential trade agreements (PTA). How have governments responded to business interest mobilisation while negotiating PTAs? Moreover, if there has been an increase in the salience of a trade agreement, has this changed the government response? First, we assess politicisation in terms of the mobilisation patterns of private sector interests during PTA negotiatio…
Moral framing and referendum politics
Frames enable individuals to locate and label occurrences within their life space and the world at large. In this article, we study the framing of moral issues with the help of Moral Foundations Theory and by relying on rich qualitative data. Existing studies are primarily based on laboratory experiments, without a focus on how such processes are shaped in a real‐life setting. Through a detailed study of the 2018 Irish referendum on abortion, we …
Spatial Imaginaries and the Geopolitics of Trade
This Special Issue explores the spatial politics of trade through a constructivist lens. While recent debates in international trade policy have emphasised geostrategic concerns, we argue that space in trade governance is not merely a geopolitical backdrop, but a politically contested arena. The establishment, management, and contestation of trade relations are shaped by, and contribute to, social constructions of space, including the power struc…
An Endogenous ‘Refugee Crisis’
Migration governance in Europe is shaped by contesting frames that reflect deeper tensions between security, humanitarianism and sovereignty. This article traces how these frames evolve over time and how the so‐called refugee ‘crisis’ reconfigures framing dynamics and actor relations between 2000 and 2020. Rather than treating the crisis as an exogenous shock, we adopt a constructivist and relational perspective that recognises crisis framing as …
Discourse Networks and Contentious Global Public Policy
This article develops a comprehensive typology of policy frame trajectories and proposes a research agenda to explain the complex, evolving dynamics of framing in European and global public policy‐making. Challenging static and instrumentalist views, frames are conceptualised as malleable, relational and contingent, unfolding through processes such as emergence, diffusion, contestation, co‐optation, drain and disappearance. The typology distingui…
Tracing Frame Trajectories in Policy Debates
This special issue explores the evolving trajectories of policy frames in European and global public policy, emphasising the non‐linear processes through which frames emerge, diffuse and become salient or silenced over time. The contributions focus on how actors in governance, ranging from governments and international organisations to civil society, form discourse coalitions and compete to define policy issues and solutions. Unlike the existing …
Framing conditionality in times of crisis
How consistent is the European Union’s (EU) response to the growing democratic decline in its neighbourhood? While existing research has examined the domestic drivers of autocratisation in the neighbourhood and its impact on the EU’s transformative power, the variability and contestation within the EU’s institutional response remain underexplored. In this article, we aim to address this gap by analysing how the European Commission, the European P…
On the determinants of referendum boycotts in Europe
In the contemporary ‘age of participation’, referendums are often celebrated as cornerstones of democratic engagement. Yet political parties sometimes take the seemingly paradoxical step of calling for referendum boycotts, urging citizens to abstain from direct democratic processes. This paper investigates the conditions under which such boycott calls occur and the motivations behind them. While previous research has largely focused on single cas…
Politics (13 works) · European union (11 works) · Political science (10 works) · Law (9 works) · Economics (8 works) · European Union Policy and Governance (8 works) · Law (8 works) · Political economy (7 works) · International trade (6 works) · Referendum (6 works)