LIST OF PANELS

Public policy in the Philippines – as a distinct subject of research and teaching – is still at its infancy. The development of a public policy discipline has largely intersected with (and marginalized by) the development of political science and public administration (Torneo 2020)1. It is thus not surprising that there is no public policy school in the country and the field only operates as a cognate of the broader disciplines (Nair et al. 2021). Policy research, to some extent, can rival other countries in the region but the research largely remains practical without sufficient engagement with theoretical developments (Dressel and Stern 2021). To what extent has the country advanced with its systematic approach to policymaking remains an (unanswered) empirical question.

The legacy of colonial rule has inevitably stirred these developments. Approaches to studying how the government makes its decision often adopt the Western notion of policy sciences that diminished the ability of the discipline to take root and establish its own indigenous approaches (Reyes 1979)2. More recent scholarly works suggest that many of the Western concepts are still adopted but there are theoretical insights generated. For instance, the use of knowledge in political discourse appears to be more conceptual and instrumental than political, contrary to what is believed in popular discourse (Tabuga 2015). Policy consultants have a growing influence but in a more procedural manner (Saguin 2018). These select studies point to the ways in which expanding knowledge production into underexplored contexts like the Philippines can unlock new ways of thinking about public policy in general.

The study and practice of public policy lies in a theoretically insightful context. Policy analysis in the Philippines as a practice entails cognizance of various focuses, perspectives, and approaches intertwined with the long-standing traditional political culture and social dynamics. Policy analysis may have been deployed to legitimize contentious use of power for political domination particularly since international organizations and neo-colonial powers exercise disproportionate influence over domestic policy processes, although adoption of such policies have been slow and selective (Saguin 2013). More recently, it features a more deliberate search for transfer of policies from the Global South but such processes are intermediated by colonial and imperial legacies (Ramesh et al 2018). These are significant manifestations to unpack from the Philippines' case. Our broad concern is to answer the question: How does policy analysis work in a country with a long history of colonial, imperial, and authoritarian regimes?

This panel in concerned with examining the study and practice of policy analysis in the Philippines. First, it hopes to historicize the developments of policy analysis in the country to bring a substantial understanding of fundamental paradigms, normative assumptions, and traditional practices instrumental to the evolution of policy analysis. Second, the panel seeks to examine the country's existing landscapes of policy analysis by pointing out approaches utilized by both private and public sectors, local and national governments. Lastly, the panel will articulate emerging contestations to the mainstream approaches from constructivist and post-structuralist epistemologies grounded from real-world experiences and practices.

This panel invites paper that dwells on the practice and study of policy analysis in the Philippines. It welcomes papers that navigate the potentials of both mainstream and critical policy analysis. Papers could dwell on specific sectors or compare the experiences across different sectors. Focusing on how different actors – consultants, think tanks, NGOs, - feature in policy advisory systems are particularly welcome. Understanding Philippine policy analysis hopes to guide further research on this route as scholars delineate comparing analyses, understanding similarities, and analyzing differences across distinct cultural experiences.

The paper can dwell on the following research questions:

·       What is the history of the use of policy analysis in the Philippines? How does its development entangle with colonial histories and narratives of nation-building?

·       Who are involved in policy analysis? Are there actors that are more influential than others?

·       How do policy analysis differ across scales of governance?

·       How are people involved in the policy process? Are there innovative approaches that incorporate people-centred approaches in policy analysis?

The papers hope to contribute to the consolidation of knowledge and understanding of policy analysis developed by scholars and practiced among pracademics, analysts, and practitioners in the country. It hopes to bring together scholars employing both quantitative and qualitative research. Going beyond the constraints of traditional social sciences would mean exploring unique yet significant features of a developing country's social, economic, and political dynamics pertinent to analyzing wicked, complex, and uncertain public problems in contemporary society.