LIST OF PANELS

The center of government remains crucial for governance and policy-making as an institution uniquely able to contribute to policy priority setting, coordination, and the advancement and management of government policy agendas.  How the center of government is structured and its functions have however been subject to various endogenous and exogenous adaptive pressures, and successive public sector reforms.  Decentralization, deregulation, devolution, organizational redesign, and increased non-state participation in policy making and governance have contributed to a decentering of the public sector in many jurisdictions.  That is, they have eroded or altered the center’s capacity of governance function or capacity to govern.  This panel will explore the theoretical and empirical policy implications of this decentering, along with various responses to it including ‘recentering’ among others. Papers are welcome that conceptually or empirically examine the 'policy work' undertaken at the 'center of government'.  That is, the day-to-day policy practices of actors within the institution(s) that provides direct support to a country's chief executive.  This center of government typically includes the president/prime minister and their office, the central public service agency (e.g. cabinet office), department of finance, and the treasury/budget management offices.  Papers are also welcome that examine the implications of decentering/recentering for particular policy activities or policy theory more generally.  For instance, shifts or patterns in policy coordination, policy advisory practices, policy agenda creation and management dynamics, public budgeting and planning, policy instruments, or policy process theory.   Given the importance of the center of government for governance and optimal policy making, understanding its structure, operation, and the nature of its policy work remain important lines of inquiry. 

The center of government remains crucial for governance and policy-making given its functions and location within government.  It is uniquely able to contribute to policy priority setting, coordination, and the advancement and management of governments’ policy agendas.  However how the center is structured and what it does have been subject to ongoing endogenous and exogenous adaptive pressures, as well as successive public sector reforms.  Decentralization, deregulation, devolution, organizational redesign, and increased non-state participation in policy making and governance have, in many jurisdictions, contributed to a decentering of the public sector.  That is, eroded or altered the center’s function or capacity to govern.  This panel will explore the theoretical and empirical policy implications of this decentering, and the various responses to it including ‘recentering’ among others.  The aim of this panel is twofold.  First, to bring together scholars who are engaged in the assessments of the 'policy work' undertaken at the 'center of government'.  That is, analysis of the day-to-day policy practices of actors within the institution(s) that provides direct support to a country's chief executive.  This center of government typically includes the president/prime minister and their office, the central public service agency (e.g. cabinet office), department of finance, and the treasury or budget management offices/departments.  The second aim is to engage in comparative assessments of the causes, consequences, as well as the coping strategies and policy implications of decentering/recentering, in different systems of government, jurisdictions, and policy domains. Papers are welcome that address one or both of these aims.  For example: the policy work of actors at the center, or shifts the nature of their policy work over time, analysis of the policy functions of individual institutions at the center of government or interactive effects, or conceptual or empirical analysis of the implications of decentering/recentering for policy theory.  Papers are particularly welcome that focus on the implications of decentering/recentering for policy coordination, policy advisory practices at the center, policy agenda creation and management dynamics, public budgeting and planning, and policy instrument perspectives.  Given the importance of the center of governance and optimal policy making, understanding its structure, operation, and the nature of its policy work remain important lines of inquiry.