LIST OF WORKSHOPS

Policy studies have long acknowledged that policymaking in one jurisdiction is influenced by policymaking in others. Due to broader forces such as industrialization and globalization, policies were hypothesized to converge into a common mould (Bennett, 1991; Holzinger & Knill, 2005). These forces prompt policymakers – whether by choice, by chance, or by coercion – to adopt practices from elsewhere (both domestic and international) in order to introduce localized policy reforms and innovations. However, the extent to which policies have actually converged or diverged remains largely inconclusive (Plümper & Schneider, 2009), leaving unanswered the question of whether these extra-jurisdictional sources of change and innovation significantly affect the policy status quo. In other words, the extent to which the spread of policies and practices matters for the comparability of policymaking over time continues to represent a blind spot in policy studies.

This blind spot is not a result of scholarly disinterest; rather, the phenomena of different jurisdictions learning from and emulating each other, competing with one another and striving to be the first or early adopters of innovations and groundbreaking changes have been dissimilarly approached (Lan & Wayenberg, 2024; Shipan & Volden, 2008). Terms such as policy diffusion, policy transfer, policy mobility and policy circulation, have emerged to capture different elements of these underlying dynamic processes, each remaining true to specific epistemological claims (de Oliveira, 2021). These concepts differ largely on their assumptions of agency and structure and entail specific expectations towards convergence and divergence of public policy. Over the past decade, some scholars have explicitly hypothesized increasing similarity among jurisdictions due to learning, competition or other mechanisms of policy diffusion in various policy areas like social policy (Howlett, Ramesh & Saguin 2018) and environmental policy (Simons & Voß, 2018). Others have empirically nuanced the impact of diffusion (Egger et al., 2021; Holzinger & Sommerer, 2011) or have normatively challenged it by arguing that policies are ultimately translated (Stone 2012) and assembled (Prince 2010) into objects specific to each context. Overall, however, theoretical reflection and empirical evidence on the interrelation between policy diffusion, convergence and divergence in the field of policy studies remain limited to date.

This workshop focuses on advancing scholarly research around the interrelated concepts of policy diffusion – including transfer, mobility, circulation, lesson-drawing and others. Key questions such as what is diffused, where is it being diffused, who influences the diffusion, and how is it being diffused (Dolowitz & Marsh, 2000; de Oliveira et al., 2023) have been explored and debated in terms of their contradictions (Prince, 2010) and complementarities (de Oliveira, 2021; de Oliveira et al., 2023). We seek to build on these insights by explicitly examining their relationship with policy convergence and divergence (Knill 2013). In other words, is policymaking becoming more similar or more dissimilar through diffusion over time?

Gaining a better understanding of how diffusion affects convergence and divergence will lay the groundwork for further theoretical development in policy studies. Synthesizing this interrelation by examining mechanisms of diffusion (such as learning or competition); specific sectors or networks of innovation (such as those evolving around AI); regionally delimited contexts (such as the Global North and South); particular system or regime conditions (including sudden crises or political turnarounds) as well as drivers of convergence and divergence in policy (such as communication and problem-solving) is pivotal to this aim. The insights derived from such analyses can then be further integrated into a shared framework to advance our understanding of policy convergence and divergence through diffusion (Cairney, 2013). By encouraging synthesis and super-synthesis of this diverse sub-field, the workshop thus responds to a long-lasting call of Ostrom (2006) of overcoming “our own heterogeneities…to achieve a better understanding of the world around us”.

The workshop will bring together scholars from various policy-related disciplines and fields of expertise. It is envisioned to build upon the work that the chairs have already initiated in their previous panels during the ICPP7 Conference in Chiang Mai (i.e. T01P10: Putting Policy Diffusion (Further) in Process, chaired by Ellen Wayenberg and Youlang Zhang and T02P05: Policy Transfer in the Global South, respectively chaired by Kidjie Saguin et al.).

References:

Bennett, C. J. (1991). What is policy convergence and what causes it?. British journal of political science, 21(2), 215-233.

Cairney, P. (2013). Standing on the shoulders of giants: how do we combine the insights of multiple theories in public policy studies?. Policy studies journal, 41(1), 1-21.

Dolowitz, D. P., & Marsh, D. (2000). Learning from abroad: The role of policy transfer in contemporary policy‐making. Governance, 13(1), 5-23.

Egger, C. M., Magni-Berton, R., Roché, S., & Aarts, K. (2021). I do it my way: Understanding policy variation in pandemic response across Europe. Frontiers in Political Science, 3, 622069.

Holzinger, K., & Knill, C. (2005). Causes and conditions of cross-national policy convergence. Journal of European Public Policy, 12(5), 775–796.

Holzinger, K., & Sommerer, T. (2011). ‘Race to the bottom’or ‘Race to Brussels’? Environmental Competition in Europe. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 49(2), 315-339.

Howlett, M., Ramesh, M., & Saguin, K. (2018). Diffusion of CCTs from Latin America to Asia: the Philippine 4Ps case. Revista de Administração Pública, 52(2), 264-284.

Knill, C. (Ed.). (2013). Cross-national policy convergence: Concepts, causes and empirical findings. Routledge.

Lan, L., & Wayenberg, E. (2024). Understanding the essence of digital government diffusion : a systematic literature review. In E-government digital frontiers : transforming public administration through technology (pp. 1-17).

de Oliveira, O. P. (2021). A prelude to policy transfer research. In Handbook of policy transfer, diffusion and circulation (pp. 1-24). Edward Elgar Publishing.

de Oliveira, O. P. (Ed.). (2021). Handbook of policy transfer, diffusion and circulation. Edward Elgar Publishing.

de Oliveira, O. P., Romano, G. C., Volden, C., & Karch, A. (2023). Policy diffusion and innovation. In Theories of the policy process (pp. 230-261). Routledge.

Ostrom, E. (2006). Converting threats into opportunities. PS: Political Science & Politics, 39(1), 3-12.

Plümper, T., & Schneider, C. J. (2009). The analysis of policy convergence, or: how to chase a black cat in a dark room. Journal of European Public Policy, 16(7), 990-1011.

Prince, R. (2010). Policy transfer as policy assemblage: making policy for the creative industries in New Zealand. Environment and planning A, 42(1), 169-186.

Simons, A., & Voß, J. P. (2018). The concept of instrument constituencies: Accounting for dynamics and practices of knowing governance. Policy and Society, 37(1), 14-35.

Shipan, C. R., & Volden, C. (2008). The mechanisms of policy diffusion. American journal of political science, 52(4), 840-857.

Stone, D. (2012). Transfer and translation of policy. Policy studies, 33(6), 483-499.

The workshop aims to advance the understanding of how public policies become more convergent or divergent through diffusion. To develop this integrative approach – and ultimately translate it into a shared framework – we invite papers that place this interrelationship at the center of their theoretical, methodological, and/or empirical analyses. Exemplary contributions may address themes and questions such as:

 from a theoretical/methodological point of view:

• how do existing policy process theories (like the multiple-streams framework, the advocacy coalition framework, the punctuated equilibrium theory, among others) approach policy convergence and divergence through processes and mechanisms of diffusion?;
• what common factors are appointed as explicative in this regard?; are (clusters of) factors (at a macro/system-wide, meso/organizational, micro/individual level) predominant?;  
• to what extent and where have these hypothesized interrelations been empirically validated?; what methodological approaches have (not) been used to this end?; 

from an empirical point of view:

• has central coercion accelerated the digitalization of local governments in country X compared to countries where local authorities have autonomously adopted digital reforms?, what other, non-coercive drivers have influenced this process?;
• to what extent do practices of co-production in the Global South translate or assemble in the Global North, given the latter’s funding opportunities?, are factors (such as governmental capacity or community culture) explicative in this regard?;
• do lesson-drawing and policy learning from recent crises account for certain jurisdictions’ institutional efforts to embed crisis management measures more permanently?, and do these institutionally embedded policies then diverge significantly when implemented in response to new emergencies?;

We welcome papers that adopt a broad range of theoretical perspectives and examine empirical practices across all jurisdictional levels worldwide, using diverse methodological approaches – both quantitative and qualitative. Our aim is to encourage synthesis among these varied approaches and findings to deepen our understanding of policy convergence and divergence through diffusion. To this end, presenters will be invited to provide feedback on one another’s work.

The workshop will take a hybrid format, thus granting some participants the opportunity to join online whilst the chairs and others will be onsite. The workshop’s outputs are intended to be published collectively, either as an edited volume or as a special issue of an academic journal.

Policy studies have long acknowledged that policymaking in one jurisdiction is influenced by policymaking in others – through processes of competition, learning, and emulation. However, the extent to which policies have actually converged or diverged over time as a result of diffusion remains under-researched. This workshop seeks to address this gap by inviting papers that place this interrelationship at the center of their comparative analyses. Theoretically oriented contributions can explore the causal mechanisms underlying public policy processes, while empirically focused papers can examine specific mechanisms of diffusion – such as learning or competition – within particular sectors or innovation networks (e.g., those related to AI), or within regionally delimited contexts (e.g., the Global North and South). These contexts operate under specific system or regime conditions, including sudden crises or political turnarounds, in which particular drivers of policy convergence and divergence – such as communication and problem-solving – are at play.

In this workshop, we thus welcome papers from a wide range of theoretical perspectives that examine empirical practices across all jurisdictional levels worldwide, using diverse methodological approaches – both quantitative and/or qualitative. Its aim is to foster synthesis among these varied approaches and findings, and to integrate them into a shared framework that advances our understanding of policy convergence and divergence through diffusion. Our workshop will bring together scholars from various policy-related disciplines. Its format is hybrid and interactive and its outputs are intended to be published collectively through an edited volume or a special journal issue.

Ellen Wayenberg is a full professor at the Department of Public Governance and Management at Ghent University, Belgium. She specializes in public administration and policy with specific interest for policy dynamics and transitions, especially in multi-level governance -settings. Over the years, she has published in highly-ranked journals such as European Policy Analysis, Local Government Studies, Policy & Politics, Policy Design and Practice, Policy and Society, and Public Administration Review and she has co-edited several special journal issues and widely used books including ‘Bouwen aan beleid: het proces van de overheid’ (Renewed edition, 2025), a special issue entitled ‘Beyond powering and puzzling: the political dimensions of policy learning’ (Journal of European Public Policy, 2024) and ‘New perspectives on intergovernmental relations – crisis and reform’ (Palgrave MacMillan, 2024). Ellen is actively involved in various European and global research groups and communities, including the European Association for Public Administration Accreditation (EAPAA) –committee, the European Group for Public Administration (EGPA) -steering committee, the International Public Policy Association (IPPA) –college, the International Review of Administrative Sciences (IRAS) –global  editorial committee and the ‘South Asian Network for Public Administration (SANPA)’.

Kidjie Saguin is a Lecturer in Public Policy (Management) at the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on comparative public policy with a substantive focus on social policy in the Global South. His work has appeared in World Development, Policy & Society,  International Review of Administrative Sciences, Asian Politics and Policy, Policy Studies, among others. He is an Associate Editor of Policy Design and Practice and a co-founder of the Philippines Public Policy Network.

Youlang Zhang is Professor and Associate Dean in the School of Public Administration and Policy. His research interests include policy process, citizen participation, and bureaucratic politics. His work has appeared in Public Administration Review, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration, Governance, Policy Studies Journal, among others.