William Genieys
William Genieys is a CNRS Research Professor of Politics and Sociology at the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics. He was educated at Sorbonne University (Paris 1). After spending twenty years at the University of Montpellier, where he was former director of the CEPEL (CNRS-UMR), he has now moved to Sciences Po. William Genieys was awarded the ‘Prix d’excellence en science politique’ by the Fondation Matéï Dogan in 2013.
His research deals with:
- Comparative sociology of elites
- The programmatic approach of policy change
- Recomposition of states elites power : The government of insiders
- Representation of democracy among unelected governmental elites
He is currently working on a project comparing modes of policy decision-making in government processes (Who governs?) in the health policy sector since the financial crisis in France, Germany, the UK and the USA. The starting point for this work is the hypothesis that competition within the state between « custodians of policy » and « austerians » is the driving force for contemporary policy innovation. With Nils Bandelow (Brunswick University), he leads this research program was funded by the ANR and the DGF (2018-2021). Since this year, he develops a new research field: Representations of democracy among unelected governmental elites in France and the United States (20th to 21st centuries).
Another look at unelected governmental elitesAnother look at unelected governmental elites
In two recent books, William Genieys looks at health insurance reforms in France and in the USA and studies unelected governmental welfare elites that made those reforms possible. He thereby identifies correlations between the career paths of those policymakers and the development of health policies. This also enables him to refute a few preconcieved ideas.
Current research project:
"Social inequalities” in health: agenda-setting and policy tracing from 2004 to the Covid-19 crisis. (2023-2025, funded by Sciences Po's Scientific Advisory Board and led by Patrick Castel, CSO)
Among his publications are:
- GENIEYS, William. 2024. A Government of Insiders. The People who Made the Affordable Care Act Possible. The John Hopkins University Press
- GENIEYS, William & M-S. Darviche. 2023. Elites, Policies, and State Reconfigurations. Transforming the French Welfare Regime. Palgrave - McMillan
- GENIEYS, William. 2020. Gouverner à l’abri des regards. La réussite de l’Obamacare. Presses de Sciences Po
- GENIEYS, William. 2011. Sociologie politique des élites. Armand Colin
- GENIEYS, William. 2010. The New Custodians of the State? Programmatic Elites in French Society. Routledge
- GENIEYS, William. 2008. L’élite des politiques de l’Etat. Presses de Sciences Po
- GENIEYS, William. 2008. Elites, Ideas, and the Evolution of Public Policy. Palgrave
- GENIEYS, William. 2004. Las élites españolas ante el cambio de régimen politico. CIS.
Active both in the fields of sociology and political science he has published in international journals such as (Comparative Politics; Journal of Policy History; Studies in American Political Developments; Governance; International Political Science Review; French Politics; Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law; International Journal of Urban and Regional Research; Academic Psychiatry; Medical Education; Revista de Estudios Politicos) as well as French journals including Revue française de science politique; Revue française de Sociologie; Sociologie du travail; Revue internationale de politique comparée; Gouvernement et action publique; Tribune de la Santé.
Recent articles:
- GENIEYS, W., M-S. Darviche, forthcoming December 2023. Welfare Elites and State reconfiguration. Evidence from the Transformation of French Social Security. European Journal of Sociology – Archives Européennes de Sociologie
- GENIEYS, W., M-S. Darviche, P. Hassenteufel. (2022). L’institutionnalisation de l’élite du Welfare au coeur de l’État. Les nouveaux gardiens des politiques d’assurance maladie. Revue Française de science politique. 72 (5). p.701-72.
- GENIEYS, W., M-S. Darviche, B. Epperson. (2022). « New Policy Elites and the Affordable Care Act: The Making of Long-term Insiders », The Journal of Policy History, 34 (1): 1-24.
- HASSENTEUFEL, Patrick and GENIEYS, William . 2021. "The programmatic action framework: An empirical assessment." European Policy Analysis 7 (S1): 28-47.
- BRUNN, Matthias, DIEFENBACHER, Albert, COURTET, Philippe and GENIEYS, William . 2020. "The Future is Knocking: How Artificial Intelligence Will Fundamentally Change Psychiatry." Academic Psychiatry.
- GENIEYS, William and -SAÏD DARVICHE, Mohammad. 2018. "Quand le Léviathan se fait Phoenix : les voies d’une résurrection annoncée de l’Etat ?" Gouvernement & action publique 7 (1): 113-122.
He participates in opinion debates in the audiovisual (Fr3, BFM, CNEWS) and radio (France Inter, RFI, RCF) media, in the written press (Figaro, Les Echos, Le Monde, Le Midi-Libre) and online (The Conversation, A.O.C., Atlantico)
Recent contributions
- GENIEYS, William & DARVICHE, Mohammad-Saïd . 2022. Débat :? La « Grande Sécu », mythe ou réalité ? The Conversation.
- GENIEYS, William and Larry Brown. 2021. "Fact check US: Can progressive and centrist Democrats finally agree on health care reform?" The Conversation.
- GENIEYS, William and BROWN, Larry. 2020. Fact check US: Can Joe Biden ‘stop the virus’ in the US as he claims? The Conversation.
- GENIEYS, William. 2020. Fact check US: Is Obamacare ‘dysfunctional and too expensive’, as Trump claims? The Conversation.
- Genieys, William. 2020. "Trump, « l’Obamacare » et le deep state." AOC [Analyse Opinion Critique].
Radio and TV broadcasts
- GENIEYS, William. La crise sanitaire provoque-t-elle une nouvelle défiance anti-élite, RFI, Débat du jour on April 15, 2021
- GENIEYS, William. Suppression de l’ENA, coup politique, bureaucratie et ascenseur social en panne. France Info TV. L’info s’éclaire on April 9, 2021
- GENIEYS, William. Commentaire de la Cérémonie d’investiture du 46ème Président, Joe Biden, RCF, Le journal de 9 heures on 2January 20, 2021
- GENIEYS, William. Violences aux Etats-Unis : les Américains d'Occitanie sous le choc après l'intrusion meurtrière au Capitole, France 3 Occitanie on January 7, 2021
- GENIEYS, William. Grand entretien. L'Agglorieuse on December 15, 2020
- GENIEYS, William. US election: analysis and commentary live from New York on BFM TV on November 9, 2016
To know more
- CV with publications (PDF, 637 Ko)
- william.genieys@sciencespo.fr
- Tel: +33145495715
Research Topics
Comparative sociology of elites; The method of “programmatic action framework” (PAF); Transformation of state elites: The role of custodians of policy; The government of insiders; Development of antielitism in France, UK and US (20th & 21th century)