LIST OF PANELS

Roundtable sponsored by the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis At a time of increasing global policy convergenace, .this Roundtable seeks to engage in a dialogue  that probes the emerging third generation of comparative policy research and the validity of comparative public policy. The Roundtable participants will relate to the following questions faced by the field:   1) How does convergence affects and challenges  comparative policy studies? 2) Would it be appropriate to say that the normative social sciences methodology is not  applicable for policy analytic studies? And if so, to what extent?  3) If this is the case and strict social sciences methodologies are not applicable How do we validate methods of comparative public policy if?  What do we/ or should we draw, for rigor and validity from pure social sciences research? 4) How can we go beyond the prevailing perception that comparative public policy means international comparisons of item lists and enhance, through valid and reliable methods, comparative theory;  comparative evaluations of research methods; and practical implications of theory-based research. How do these serve the challenges of global policy conversion?

This roundtable engages a number of leading scholars in a dialogue advancing comparative policy studies, and contributing to the methodological rigour of this new domain of study. The importance of methodological validation is particularly prominent in today’s world of global policy convergence.