LIST OF WORKSHOPS

Notes:

Prof. Ellen Wayenberg is also chair of the workshop. 

Context

Contemporary policymaking contexts are growingly susceptible to wicked and challenging policy issues that are difficult to analyze and structure (Daviter, 2017; Head & Alford, 2013). This is in addition to their entanglement with progressively complex societal and policy networks (Crozier, 2010). Amidst such complexity, policymaking also often has to respond to disruptive and fast-paced changes mainly rooted either in crises and paradigmatic shifts, disruptive technological innovations, or sometimes both (e.g., Crow et al., 2018; Birkland, 2006; Hartley et al., 2019), while engaging with complex networks of stakeholders in a growing policy universe (Hans Klijn, 1996). Though these issues paint a somewhat stark image, policymaking theory and practice have found some relief in policy learning as a mechanism for coping with such “messy contexts”. This has ranged from employing policy learning to address technically complex and ambiguous policy issues from pandemics (e.g., Baekkeskov, 2016; Zaki & Wayenberg, 2020), to engaging with complex actor networks (e.g., Howlett et al., 2017), socio-politically complex issues (e.g., Kamkhaji & Radaelli, 2017; Dunlop, James, & Radaelli, 2019), or leveraging a better theoretical understanding between policy learning and policy change (e.g., Bennett & Howlett, 1992; Dunlop & Radaelli, 2017; Moyson, 2017). However, policy learning does not occur in vacuum, rather it influences and is influenced by its contexts and their societal, structural, governance dynamics, and capacities (e.g., Moyson et al., 2017; Dunlop & Radaelli, 2017; Zaki & George, 2021). Consequently, lapses in acknowledging such connections (and thus engaging in sub-optimal learning processes) can lead to  “endarkment” over “enlightment” and significantly constrain the conception and effectiveness of critical policies (e.g., Dunlop & Radaelli, 2018; Dunlop, James, & Radaelli, 2019; Zaki & Wayenberg, 2020). As such, this Workshop places learning theories, frameworks, and concepts at the heart of the contemporary policymaking context and focuses on how dynamic contextual configurations influence (and yield insights for) further development of policy learning research and practice.

State of the art and scientific relevance

Policy learning has positioned itself as an invaluable tool for contemporary policymaking. This has been emphasized in recent decades through employing policy learning within a wide range of technically and socially complex policy issues. This ranged from governance (e.g., Dunlop, James, & Radaelli, 2019; Kamkhaji & Radaelli, 2017), to public health and pandemics (e.g., Baekkeskov, 2016; Zaki & Wayenberg, 2020), to agriculture, the environment (e.g., Dunlop, 2017; Gerlak et al., 2018), social welfare and legislation (e.g., Fleckenstein, 2008; Mooney & Lee, 1999). The need for consistent, systematic, and deliberate learning is becoming progressively central in contemporary public policy, particularly with the proliferation of crises, wicked issues, disruptive technologies, and changes in democratic governance paradigms (e.g., Hartley et al., 2019). There, policy learning can help policymakers make sense of complexity, particularly where understandings are still rudimentary and where multiple perspectives are needed to approach ambiguous policy issues with high uncertainty (see: Dunlop, 2017; Herweg et al., 2018). However, an emphasis on the embeddedness of policy learning and its interaction with its context is key to achieving optimal learning outcomes. Yet, as such contextual features evolve, research on learning is yet to fully capture the intensity, multiplicity, and  multidimensionality of interactions of policy learning with contextual and systemic structures (Bomberg, 2007), where contexts not only “surround” but can also be within “actors” (e.g., Karlsen & Larrea, 2016). In this vein, research on learning needs to engage with the non-linearity, dynamism, and tensions between various ideational schools, shifts in democratic governance paradigms, disruptive market forces, and transitions (e.g., Dunlop et al., 2020; Nilsson, 2005; Bauer, Peters, & Pierre, 2021).

Thus, the research question underlying this workshop directly relates to the foundational and longstanding ethos of public administration and policy, that is a long-standing quest for addressing emerging challenges (Kaufman, 1969). This is achieved through a focus on enriching policy learning research and practice (as a central mechanism for informing contemporary policymaking) towards more dynamic and context-responsive approaches able to cope with a flurry of contextual evolutions in public policy.

Main Research Questions

As such, this workshop welcomes a wide range of contributions tackling various aspects of the interaction between policy learning and the contexts in which learning occurs. This includes (but is not limited to):

1.How do different policy learning types, and processes interact with each other and their contexts within and across: coalitions, institutions, networks, and various organizational settings?

2.How are (or can) different policy learning types and processes (be) employed (sometimes weaponized) by different actors to leverage policy positions and re-shape policy paradigms?

3.How can multiple policy learning and interdisciplinary frameworks/theories used in conjunction  (e.g., Narrative Policy Framework, Advocacy Coalition Framework, Institutional Grammar theory, etc.) help explain and illuminate causal relationships between policy learning processes and their outcomes under different contexts?

4.How can policy learning help integrate and theoretically connect different theories of public policy?

5.How have societies and policy subsystems learned during the post-pandemic recovery? And what is the quality of this learning in terms of policy effectiveness and standards of democratic governance?

6.How do bureaucratic structures, implementers, individual policy subsystems, different policy actors (and ultimately societies) learn in a time of paradigmatic transformations and transitions (e.g., green energy, shifts in democratic governance paradigms, etc.)?

7.How can policy learning advance advocacy in an era of intense ideational contestation?

8.How do evidence-informed tools work to produce learning during crises? How can they be re-calibrated to function within conditions of uncertainty and/or rapidly changing and emergency contexts?

9.How does the existence of disruptive innovations affect the design of learning solutions? How can policy learning (and learning capacity) enhance or impede the ability of governance frameworks to respond to disruptive innovations (e.g., Artificial intelligence, Facial recognition, Big Data, the internet of things, etc.)?

10.How can learning respond to the explosion growth in information circulation in an era of conspiracy theories, post-truths, and fake news, and growing role of citizens as policy actors with access to information?

Expected Papers

This workshop welcomes a wide range of interdisciplinary contributions: Theoretical, conceptual, empirical, and methodological. Contributions can focus on single or multiple cases and can utilize a range of methodological and analytical approaches (Theory building, quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods). Contributions should clearly articulate the key elements of context and clearly delineate the underlying conceptual/theoretical approaches  to learning.

Special Issue

This workshop aims to leverage contributions for a special issue in a leading ISI ranked Public Policy Journal. Further arrangements as a specific outlet will be finalized in light of final submissions.

Scholars with confirmed interest in presenting papers in this workshop

The chairs have contacted a number of international policy learning and public policy scholars who have confirmed their interest and willingness to present their work during this workshop. These include:

1.Claudio Radaelli, European University Institute –Learning modes under different types of crisis.

2.Claire Dunlop, University of Exeter – (Exact theme to be confirmed).

3.Tanya Heikkila (UC Denver) and Andrea Gerlak (University of Arizona) - Breaking Down the Barriers to Learning in Cross-Scale Governance Processes

4.Paul Cairney, University of Stirling - What can governments learn from each other about COVID-19 policy?

5.Katharine Rietig, Newcastle University - Learning in zero-carbon transitions.

6.Bishoy Louis Zaki & Ellen Wayenberg University of Ghent P1: Complexity Theory: Implications for Policy learning research and Practice. P2: Policy Learning: Shifts and Mode hopping in complex and dynamic policy contexts.

7.Philipp Trein, University of Lausanne - (Exact theme to be confirmed).

8.Kristin Taylor, Wayne State University - Towards a Theory of Event-Initiated Policy Learning: An examination how perturbations in drinking water systems promote policy learning.

9. Mathew Nowlin, College of Charleston - Deliberation, Issue Definitions, and Policy Learning.

Policy learning has been progressively positioned as a key mechanism for informing policy responses, particularly in recent decades with the prevalence of complex, unstructured, and wicked policy issues. However, in addition to policy issue complexity, the policymaking context has become increasingly complex. Actor networks have exponentially grown, ideational contestation, paradigmatic shifts and tensions around governance paradigms have become more accentuated. Furthermore, policymakers are now faced with the need to respond to disruptive technological advances that are changing the world as we know it. As such, this workshop calls for contributions that address the interaction and relationship between learning and the contemporary dynamic, fast-paced, disruptive, and complex policy making contest.

This includes contributions that are focused on (but not limited to) the following broad lines:

1.How different policy learning types, and processes interact with each other and their contexts within and across: coalitions, institutions, networks, and various organizational settings

2.How different policy learning types and processes are (or can be) employed (sometimes weaponized) by different actors to leverage policy positions and re-shape policy paradigms?

3.How can multiple policy learning and interdisciplinary theories used in conjunction  (e.g., Narrative Policy Framework, Advocacy Coalition Framework, Institutional Grammar theory, etc.) help explain and illuminate causal relationships between policy learning processes and their outcomes under different contexts?

4.How can policy learning help integrate and theoretically connect different theories of public policy?

5.How have societies and policy subsystems learned during the post-pandemic recovery? And What is the quality of this learning in terms of policy effectiveness and standards of democratic governance?

6.How do bureaucratic structures, implementers, individual policy subsystems, different policy actors (and ultimately societies) learn in a time of paradigmatic transformations and transitions (e.g., green energy, shifts in democratic governance paradigms, etc.)?

7.How can policy learning advance advocacy in an era of intense ideational contestation?

8.How do evidence-informed tools work to produce learning during crises? How can they be re-calibrated to function within conditions of uncertainty within rapidly changing and emergency contexts?

9.How does the existence of disruptive innovations affect the design of learning solutions? How can policy learning (and learning capacity) enhance or impede the ability of governance frameworks to respond to disruptive innovations (e.g., Artificial intelligence, Facial recognition, Big Data, the internet of things, etc.)?

10.How can learning respond to the explosion growth in information circulation in an era of conspiracy theories, post-truths, and fake news, and growing role of citizens as policy actors with access to information?

This workshop welcomes a wide range of interdisciplinary contributions: Theoretical, conceptual, empirical, and methodological. Contributions can focus on single or multiple cases and can utilize a range of methodological and analytical approaches (Theory building, quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods). Contributions should articulate the key elements of context being studies and clearly delineate their underlying conceptual/theoretical approaches to learning.

Contemporary policymaking is becoming progressively complex. The policymaking process now faces a growing number of wicked, complex, and unstructured policy issues. This is while having to engage with an unprecedented growth of policy actor networks and constellations within dynamic, highly contested, and rapidly evolving contexts. This complexity is further fueled by the emergence of existential threats (e.g., climate change, public health crises), paradigmatic transformations (e.g., debates around democratic governance, populism, nationalism, economic, sectoral and market transitions), and a flurry of disruptive technologies (e.g., Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Internet of things). Policymakers and researchers have long-employed learning as a mechanism for informing critical policy responses and as an analytical lens to better understand the policy process, its dynamics, and outcomes. However, policy learning research and practice is yet to fully engage with the growing dynamism, complexity, non-linearity, and rapid contextual evolutions in contemporary policymaking contexts. As such, this workshop calls for contributions that focus on exploring how the process of learning affects and is affected by dynamic interactions with and within the policymaking context. Contributions can also tackle how learning takes place under such conditions around emerging policy issues and shifting governance, economic, technocratic, and democratic paradigms. The workshop welcomes a wide range of interdisciplinary contributions of theoretical, conceptual, empirical, or methodological nature.  

Claudio Radaelli 

Claudio Radaelli is Professor of Comparative Public Policy at the School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute – On leave from UCL / School of Public Policy. He is chief editor of the International Review of Public Policy. With Claire Dunlop and Philipp Trein he co-edited Learning in Public Policy: Analysis, Modes and Outcomes (Elgar, 2018).

Recent publications:

- Regulatory indicators in the European Union and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development: Performance assessment, organizational processes, and learning, Public Policy and Administration, 35(3), 2020.

- Measuring Design Diversity: A new application of Ostrom’s rule types. With C. A. Dunlop, J.C. Kamkhaji and G. Taffoni. Policy Studies Journal, 2021.

- Don’t think it is a good idea! Four building sites of the ‘ideas school’. With Jonathan C. Kamkhaji, West European Politics, 2021. Early view, open access.

- The institutional grammar tool meets the narrative policy framework: Narrating institutional statements in consultation. With C.A. Dunlop, J.C. Kamkhaji and G. Taffoni. European Policy Analysis, 2021.

- What is a Policy Scholar for? With C.A. Dunlop. In The Future of the Policy Sciences, Eds Anis Ben Brik and Leslie Pal, E. Elgar, 2021.

Claire Dunlop

Claire A. Dunlop is Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the University of Exeter, UK. A public policy and administration scholar, Claire’s main fields of interest include the politics of expertise and knowledge utilization; epistemic communities and advisory politics; risk governance; policy learning and analysis; impact assessment; and policy narratives. She explores these conceptual interests at the UK and EU levels principally, and most frequently in relation to agricultural, environmental and LGBT issues. Claire has published more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters – most recently in Policy and Politics, Policy Sciences, International Public Management Journal, Regulation and Governance and Journal of European Public Policy. She is Vice Chair of the UK Political Studies Association and editor of Public Policy and Administration.

Recent Publications:

- Dunlop, C.A., Kamkhaji, J.C., Radaelli, C.M. and Taffoni, G. (2022) ‘Measuring Design Diversity: A New Application of Ostrom’s Rule Types’, Policy Studies Journal

- Dunlop, C.A., Kamkhaji, J.C., Radaelli, C.M. and Taffoni, G. (2021) ‘The Institutional Grammar Tool Meets the Narrative Policy Framework: Narrating Institutional Statements in Consultation’, European Policy Analysis

- Dunlop, C.A. and Radaelli, C.M. ‘Policy Learning in Comparative Policy Analysis’, (2021) Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice

- Dunlop, C.A., Ongaro, E. and Baker, K. (2020) ‘Researching COVID-19: A Research Agenda for Public Policy and Administration’ Public Policy and Administration 35, 4: 365-383

- Dunlop, C.A., Kamkhaji, J.C., Radaelli, C.M., Taffoni, G. and Wagemann, C. (2020) ‘Does Consultation Count for Corruption?’, Journal of European Public Policy

- Dunlop, C.A., James, S. and Radaelli, C.M. (2020) ‘Can’t Get No Learning: The Brexit Fiasco through the Lens of Policy Learning’, Journal of European Public Policy 27, 5

- Dunlop, C.A. (ed) (2020) Policy Learning and Policy Failure, Bristol: Policy Press.

- Dunlop, C.A. and Radaelli, C.M. (2020) ‘Technocracy and Public Policy’ in Bertsou, E. and Caramani, D (eds) The Technocratic Challenge to Democracy Routledge

Bishoy Louis Zaki

Bishoy Louis Zaki is currently a PhD candidate and teaching assistant at the department of Public Management and Governance, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Ghent, Belgium. His main research focus is on policy learning, expertise, and crises. Bishoy’s research focuses on how dynamic, complex, and ambiguous contexts influence and are influenced by different approaches to policy learning. His research also focuses on the conceptual dimensions of policy learning, particularly how novel conceptual frameworks can assist in enhancing the policy learning measurement agenda across a range of different areas in research and practice. Before joining academia, he served for over 14 years in international development, public policy, consulting, and strategy positions at different governmental and international organizations worldwide. His main practical experience was in designing and implementing policy learning and transfer programs.

Recent Publications:

- Zaki, B. L., & George, B. (2021). New development: Policy learning and public management—a match made in crisis. Public Money and Management. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2021.1956212

- Zaki, B. L., & Wayenberg, E. (2020). Shopping in the Scientific Marketplace: COVID-19 through a policy learning lens. Policy Design and Practice, 4(1), 15-32. doi:10.1080/25741292.2020.1843249

- Zaki, B. L., Nicoli, F., Wayenberg, E., & Verschuere, B. (Forthcoming). “In Trust we Trust?”: The impact of trust in government on excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Public Policy and Administration.

- George, B., Verschuere, B., Wayenberg, E., & Zaki, B. L. (2020). A Guide to Benchmarking COVID ‐19 Performance Data. Public Administration Review, 80(4), 696-700. doi:10.1111/puar.13255

Ellen Wayenberg

Ellen Wayenberg is Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University (Belgium). She specializes in public policy and administration with a specific interest for policy analysis and evaluation, local government, and multi-level governance. During her career, Ellen has co-organized and –chaired several international conferences and research meetings including the annual meeting of the EGPA Study Group on Regional and Local Government (since 2010), the KU Leuven –conference on ‘Street-Level Bureaucracy: The Ground Floor of Government in Context’ (2019), panel III on sub-municipal governance within the COST Action IS1207: Local Public Sector Reforms: An International Comparison (2013) and the Fourth Transatlantic Dialogue on the Status of Intergovernmental Relations and Multi-Level Governance in Europe and the US (4TAD, 2008). In her current work, she focuses upon a wide range of public sector issues and transitions including policy learning, municipal amalgamations, smart policies, and healthy cities.

Recent publications:

(1)   Wayenberg, E. (2021). Strategic Policy Planning at the Local Level: A Flemish Performance Starring Regional Government. In T. Bergström, J. Franzke, S. Kuhlmann, & E. Wayenberg (Eds.), The Future of Local Self-Government. European Trends in Autonomy, Innovations and Central-Local Relations (pp. 213–227). Palgrave Macmillan, Switzerland.

(2)   George, B., Verschuere, B., Wayenberg, E., & Zaki, B. (2020). A guide to benchmarking COVID‐19 performance data. Public Administration Review, 80(4), pp. 696-700. 

(3)   Zaki, B., & Wayenberg, E. (2020). Shopping in the scientific marketplace: COVID-19 through a policy learning lens. Policy Design & Practice.

(4)   Kuhlmann, S., & Wayenberg, E. (2016). Institutional impact assessment in multi-level systems: conceptualizing decentralization effects from a comparative perspective. (S. Kuhlmann & E. Wayenberg, Eds.) International Review of Administrative Sciences, 82(2), pp. 233-254.