LIST OF PANELS

Coordination problems have been a recurrent issue in the study of public policy.  Particularly, cross-sectorial coordination has become ever more pressing due to ongoing specialization of public policies in more and more sectors. To efficiently respond to complex policy problems, researchers and policymakers have coined concepts such as whole of government, joined-up government, or horizontal governance. At the same time, analytically, field concepts have gained in importance for the analysis of public policies, referring to overlapping sub systems, boundary-spanning policy regimes, or functional regulatory spaces. However, whereas the body of conceptual frames and terms for the analysis of coordination of policy sectors is vast, comparative empirical research of this problem is scarce, especially the comparison between countries. Therefore, this panel invites papers that focus on the coordination of policy sectors, particularly if they pursue comparative empirical analysis, either with regard to certain issues in one country or in different countries. Successful papers conduct research on the relation of these policy sectors from a comparative perspective, posing questions such as: What differences with respect to typical instruments or mechanisms of policy sectorial coordination can be observed and how can we explain them? How do relations between policy sectors differ with regard to conflict-intensity and what are the politics of coordination? Consequently, this panel contributes to a better understanding of the coordination patterns in public policy, by sharpening our understanding of sectorial relations in policy and politics through cross-sectorial empirical studies.

Coordination problems have been a recurrent issue in the study of public policy. They are part of the decision-making process towards certain policies within and between important arenas of the political system, such as parliament, interest groups, federal government, or in between different sectors of the political system. Especially, the challenge of cross-sectorial coordination has become ever more pressing due to ongoing specialization of public policies in more and more sectors. Recent reforms of public governance have shifted power to business companies, non-profit-organizations, or societal actors thereby replacing hierarchical governance either with competitive forms of governance, participatory network-like governance, or both at the same time. To efficiently respond to complex problems, such as immigration, public health, or water provision, researchers and policymakers have coined concepts to combine policy sectors horizontally, i.e. whole of government, joined-up government, or horizontal governance. At the same time, analytically, field concepts have gained in importance for the analysis of public policies, especially the combination of policy sectors, referring to overlapping sub systems, boundary-spanning policy regimes, or functional regulatory spaces. However, whereas the body of conceptual frameworks for the analysis of coordination of policy sectors is vast, comparative empirical research of this problem is scarce, especially the comparison between countries. Therefore, this panel invites papers that focus on the coordination of policy sectors, especially if they pursue comparative empirical analysis. Thereby, the comparison can focus on coordination between policy sectors with regard to certain issues in one country or compare the coordination of policy sectors in different countries. Possible examples for empirical research are the coordination of different areas in the health policy sector, such as stationary care, outpatient-care and prevention, but also health and employment policy with regard to a particular problem, such as immigration. Another example is the adjustment of public policy sector governance in the light of changing environmental or resource policies. Successful papers conduct research on the relation of these policy sectors from a comparative perspective, posing questions such as: What differences with respect to typical instruments or mechanisms of policy sectorial coordination can be observed and how can we explain them? How do relations between policy sectors differ with regard to conflict-intensity and what are the politics of coordination? This panel contributes to a better understanding of the coordination patterns in public policy, by sharpening our understanding of sectorial relations in policy and politics through cross-sectorial empirical studies.