LIST OF PANELS

This panel highlights the essential role of emotions and vulnerability in shaping public policy, examining their impact on policy formulation and policy implementation across a range of governance contexts. By exploring current understandings of  emotions in public policy, this panel aims to bring into conversation diverse approaches to how emotions—often an underexamined yet powerful element—drive and shape policy processes. Addressing the emotional dimensions of governance, this session will create a space for innovative discussions on the transformative potential of emotionally informed and inclusive policymaking.
 
Panel Objectives and Scope 
The primary objective of this panel is to recognize emotions not only as influencing factors but as conceptual tools fostering a deeper understanding of how affective dimensions impact governance structures and policy frameworks. By emphasizing vulnerability, this panel seeks to illuminate the processes through which emotions shape and reshape policy, potentially allowing for a more inclusive and empathetic approach to policy processes.
 
This panel is designed to embrace diverse perspectives and research stages. We encourage contributions that explore emotions through various policy theory orientations, methodologies, and research experiences. A key objective is to create a collaborative and reflexive environment, one where scholars feel comfortable discussing both the successes and challenges encountered in their work. Contributions need not present fully established methods; instead, we value the openness to explore innovative approaches and to critically reflect on methodologies that enhance our understanding of emotions in public policy.
 
This panel seeks to bring together research that addresses emotions across different policy domains, with an emphasis on critical insights into governance and vulnerability. Key areas of focus include:
 
 - Emotions from Individual to Collective: Examining the transition from personal emotional responses to collective affective phenomena, such as how individual privacy concerns aggregate into broader political movements or social concerns.
 - Emotions and Expertise: Exploring the role of emotions in the age of "postfactual politics" and questioning how expertise interacts with emotional narratives in public decision-making.
 - Emotions as Knowledge: Delving into the role of emotions as a distinct form of knowledge, where affective responses provide insights that are different from, yet complementary to, traditional expert knowledge.

We invite scholars from diverse backgrounds and career stages to foster a dynamic exchange of ideas and methodologies that enhance our collective understanding of emotions in policy and governance. This panel promises to enrich the conference’s objectives by opening space for new insights and collaborative learning on the role of emotions in creating responsive, inclusive, and empathetic public policies.

Incorporating emotions into the study of public policy is an increasingly significant aspect of policy process theories, with scholars now examining emotions as pivotal drivers that impact the political landscape, policy debates, and governance processes.  This panel reflects this shift toward acknowledging the substantial influence of emotions in public policy,o moving beyond the notion of emotions as secondary to rational decision-making processes. By inviting work that considers emotions not only as a subject but as a conceptual cum methodlogical approach to study governance, the panel aligns with recent calls for more inclusive, emotionally sensitive policymaking.
 
This panel invites papers examining the essential role of emotions and exploring how emotions influence both the formulation and implementation of policy, moving beyond traditional frameworks to emphasize the transformative potential of emotionally informed, inclusive governance. We welcome contributions that engage with emotions as both influencing factors and conceptual tools in governance, particularly those that explore vulnerability as a pathway to more empathetic policy approaches. The panel seeks diverse perspectives across policy theory orientations and methodological approaches, encouraging both established and exploratory research. Contributors need not present fully developed methods; instead, we value openness to discussing successes, challenges, and reflections on the role of emotions in policy studies.
 
Key themes include:
Emotions from Individual to Collective: How personal emotional responses scale to broader political movements and social issues.
Emotions and Expertise: The interaction between expertise and emotional narratives, especially in "postfactual" policy contexts.
Emotions as Knowledge: Recognizing emotions as a unique form of knowledge that complements traditional expertise.
 
By bringing together varied perspectives, this panel seeks to foster a collaborative environment that advances understanding of emotions as crucial to governance and public policy. Scholars from all backgrounds are encouraged to submit.