Isabelle Engeli, Ph.D.

i.engeli@exeter.ac.uk


Full Professor

University of Exeter

Year of PhD: 2007

Country: United Kingdom (England)

About Me:

I am Professor of Public Policy at the University of Exeter (UK).My current research focuses on: (1) Party competition and policy change on morality politics (same-sex marriage, abortion, reproductive technology, euthanasia/assisted suicide, and embryo research),(2) The politics of gendering policy attention and action,(3) Gender equality in the profession. I am Editor-in-Chief of the ECPR flagship journal European Journal of Political Research and Founding Editor of the European Journal of Politics and Gender. I currently serve as Vice-President of the International Public Policy Association.

Research Interests

European Politics

Gender and Politics

LGBTQIA Politics

Public Policy

Religion & Politics

Political Parties and Interest Groups

Corporate Gender Equality

LGBTQ Rights

Biotechnology Regulation

Abortion Politics

Euthanasia Policy

Gender Action Plan

Public Administration

Countries of Interest

France

Switzerland

United Kingdom

Germany

Italy

My Research:

I am Professor of Public Policy at the University of Exeter (UK).My current research focuses on:Party competition and policy change on morality politics (same-sex marriage, abortion, reproductive technology, assisted suicide and euthanasia, and embryo research),The politics of gendering policy attention and action,Gender equality in the professionI currently convene, together with Amy Mazur, the International Research Network on Gender Equality Policy in Practice, which investigates the politics of implementing gender equality across policy sectors in Europe and North America. Christine Rothmayr and I are pursuing our research into gender equality in the political science profession.My work appears notably in the European Journal of Political Research, the European Journal of Public Policy, Regulation & Governance, West European Politics, Comparative European Politics, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, and Revue Française de Science Politics. My research has been awarded the 2012 APSA Best Comparative Policy Paper Award and the 2011 Carrie Chapman Catt Prize.I am Editor-in-Chief of the ECPR flagship journal European Journal of Political Research (with Emiliano Grossman and Sofia Vasilopoulou)  and Founding Editor of the European Journal of Politics and Gender (with Petra Ahrens, Karen Celis, Sarah Childs, Elizabeth Evans and Liza Mügge). I am also Founding Editor of the Routledge Series on Gender and Comparative Politics (with Karen Celis) and serve on the international advisory board of the Journal of Comparative Policy AnalysisJournal of Public PolicyPolicy & Politics, and the Swiss Political Science Review.Last but not least, I believe in service for our profession. I served as Convener of the European Conference of Politics and Gender from 2011 to 2019, as Convener of the ECPR Standing Group in Gender and Politics from 2011 to 2019 and Founding Chair of the Council for European Studies Research Network in Gender and Sexuality Studies. I currently serve as Vice-President of the International Public Policy Association and on the Advisory Board of the European Politics and Society Section of APSA.

Publications:

Journal Articles:

(2021) The COVID-19 crisis and the rise of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), West European Politics

European institutionalisation of public health policy has never been more topical than in the COVID-19 era. One European agency has come to the fore: the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Historically, the ECDC’s mandate has expanded only gradually and the management of transboundary health crises has remained ultimately in the hands of Member States. The unprecedented severity of COVID-19 has led the European Commission to propose an extension of the ECDC’s mandate. This study assesses the expansion of the formal and informal mandates of the ECDC over 15 years to contextualise the catalytic impact of COVID-19. It is found that while institutional change occurs in the aftermath of a transboundary health crisis, it builds on a long-term process of gradual institutionalisation that is accelerated by the crisis acting as a catalyst but not fully determined by it. This article is Open Access

(2020) Gender and sexuality research in the age of populism: lessons for political science, European Political Science

Gender and politics research faces a crossroad in the age of populism. On the one hand, gender and sexuality research is on the way to institutionalisation across a growing number of academic systems in Europe. On the other, gender and sexuality research has become increasingly contested and attacked, and has become the bête noire of the populist and radical right. This contribution contends that gender research is under threat not only because of the gender component, but also because of the scholarly research. There are thus lessons to be drawn for the wider discipline of political science. This article first sketches out the dualization in the institutionalization of gender-related research. It then situates the hostility towards gender and sexuality research in the broader (and growing) opposition to gender + and sexual + equality. It concludes with some preliminary observations about the how this hostility may be part of a wider contestation of academic expertise and scholarly knowledge that is being led, at least in part, by populist forces of all stripes.

(2020) The search for the elusive recipe for gender equality: when policy implementation matters, French Politics

The goal of this article is to use the seven case analyses of gender equality policy implementation covered in this special issue to apply and further develop the gender equality policy in practice approach and agenda. Through using the case of France as laboratory to examine if, how and under what conditions gender equality policy implementation leads to success, overall gender transformation and enhanced gender equality, this article provides a more accurate policy recipe for gender equality policy success and the importance of the post-adoption phases of implementation and evaluation in that recipe

(2018) Taking implementation seriously in assessing success: the politics of gender equality policy, European Journal of Politics and Gender

This article makes the case for the investigation of the post-adoption stages of gender equality policies. We develop the Gender Equality Policy in Practice Approach, built on: (1) the mix of instruments for policy action; (2) the process of inclusive empowerment in practice; and (3) gender transformation as the ultimate outcome. For the gender and politics community, we demonstrate the importance of incorporating implementation in taking policy success seriously; for the policy studies community, we show how engaging with gender provides a compelling critical case to test general propositions about policy success and the intersectional complexity of the policy process.

Books Written:

(2020) Political Science in Europe: Achievements, Challenges, Prospects, Rowman & Littlefield International

The last half-century has been a defining period for the development of political science in Europe: disciplinary norms have become institutionalized in professional organizations, training units, and research centres; the scholarly community has dramatically grown in size across the continent; the analytical and methodological tools of the discipline are increasingly sophisticated; and the knowledge disseminated under the label “political science” is bigger than it has ever been. Political Science in Europe takes stock of these developments and reflects on the achievements of the discipline, and the challenges it faces. Is there a distinctive "European" blend of political science? Is the European political science community cohesive and inclusive? How does the discipline cope with the neoliberalisation of academia, and the diffusion of illiberal politics? Leading and up-and-coming political scientists answer these questions by discussing the discipline's key concepts and intellectual trends, its professional structures, and its relationship with its social, economic, and political environment.