Policy Diffusion Processes and Legitimacy in Mercosur: Institutional Mimicry and Internalization Mechanisms of Community Standards

Abstract

Since its foundation in 1991, Mercosur has been characterized by intergovernmental mechanisms and a decision-making process based on consensus. This dynamic puts federal Executive branch in the center of the integration process, therefore arising questions about representation and legitimacy in the study of regional institution. Based on the concept of policy diffusion phenomena, this paper discusses the search for legitimacy through mimicry: it tests the hypothesis that plural exchanges between Mercosur and the EU yield internal rules importing European model, and stimulate technical cooperation spreading institutional practices. The institutional design influenced by a more ancient and consolidated institution can be exploited as a source of legitimacy, fostered by employees of Mercosur and epistemic communities. However, these regional standards are assimilated differently by the member states, thus, in a second moment, the work confronts the results of the analysis of institutional diffusion within with data on the effective internalization of these rules, as means to scrutinize how the regional search for legitimacy relates to the effectiveness of domestic rules. The result of the empirical analysis shows that there is a path of political transfer between the European Union and Mercosur working by: (i) internal rules which directly imports the European model; (ii) technical cooperation diffusing institutional practices; (iii) nornative harmonization as a way to favor future interactions.

Mercosur; Policy Diffusion; European Union; Legitimacy