Advancing (Digital) Innovations in Public Policy Research

This year’s section endorsed by the Standing Group on Public Policy provides a platform for discussing research on policymaking in the face of (technological) innovations. Innovations often respond to challenges and pressures caused by crises or technological developments such as digitalization or AI. In this respect, innovations are essential for the progress of public policy and policy research as they have a significant impact on designing policy research and reconsidering teaching activities. This Section stimulates critical ongoing dialogue among policy scholars working with various frameworks and theories (ACF, IADF, MSF, NPF, PAF, etc.). It invites scholars at all career levels from Europe and globally to reflect on cutting-edge research in their field and contribute papers with diverse theoretical and methodological orientations in sub-national, national, international, or comparative settings. The Section ▪ provides a networking and community-building opportunity for policy scholars from different generations and countries; ▪ assesses and develops theoretical, methodological, and empirical knowledge concerning public policy and policymaking with reference to cross-cutting themes; ▪ encourages dialogue among different perspectives on public policy and policy process research. ON-SITE PANELS The Advocacy Coalition Framework This panel welcomes theory-informed empirical applications of the ACF from different political systems and policy subsystems that shed light on still open conceptual, methodological, and empirical questions, e.g., belief-consistent vs. defective behavior within and across advocacy coalitions, clear-cut operationalization of advocacy coalitions, and necessary and sufficient causes of policy change, including exploitive coalitions and institutional variables of the political system. The Multiple Streams Framework Prioritizing issues is a process involving power differentials, perception, framing, and proximity, in a space where policy solutions are matched with problems. We invite papers which extend the Multiple Streams Framework in new directions: theoretical papers that propose new hypotheses, empirical papers that employ rigorous methodologies (qualitative or quantitative), or papers that draw inspiration from developing countries and/or authoritarian settings. (Digital) Innovations and the Narrative Policy Framework: Opportunities and Challenges Digital innovations offer great opportunities but also pose major challenges for public policy making and policy process research. This panel invites papers that use the Narrative Policy Framework to study those challenges and opportunities in policymaking, or use digital methodological innovations to advance NPF research. Panel Chairs also welcome theoretical contributions. Social Identities and Programmatic Action in the Age of Digitalization Subjective group affiliations are a central basis for policy actors’ goals and networks. This panel invites contributions that focus on social identities. Of particular interest are programmatic groups that emerge from biographical interfaces and shape policy subsystems over decades. Considering the section theme, contributions that (also) consider digital communication in social groups in the policy process are particularly welcome. Addressing Innovations in Public Policy Through the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework We are interested in papers that analyze digital, technical, organizational, or social innovations and how governments formulate, implement, and evaluate related policies. In this context, the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework provides a toolkit for researchers to dissect the intricate relationships between institutions, actors, and rules governing public policy. We invite contributions that apply the IAD framework to questions on innovations from a diverse range of methodological approaches. Innovation in Teaching the Policy Process Teaching the policy process continues to innovate through its content (addressing ongoing recent advances in theories, applications, and methods), its form (facing the COVID-19 pandemic (in-person, online, hybrid modes)), and its response to integrating AI into the classroom. This roundtable calls for policy scholars to share their experience with teaching innovations in form, content, and AI risks or opportunities. Policy Learning in Times of Innovation and Disruption This panel explores policy learning in a context of disruption whether due to an increasing number of crises or rapid technological innovations where policy actors seek resilient and anticipatory governance. This panel also welcomes contributions on how disruptive technologies influence the ideational dimension of policy learning (e.g., narratives, paradigms, semantic ambiguity) within this context. The Analytical Challenges of Digitalization to Policy Design Digital innovations pose a challenge to the analytical lens of policy design. The impact of AI, machine learning, and big data challenge the design/choice of policy instrumentation. Digitalization requires considering whether and how the main actors (policy makers and policy takers) are aware of the political (impact on consensus/legitimacy/democracy) and policy implications (outcomes) of the use of digital tools. Textual Data and NLP in Policy Process Research Much policy-relevant, textual data remains unused as it is challenging to meaningfully operationalize in quantitative analysis or to exhaustively process in hand-coded qualitative analysis. The field of natural language processing (NLP) has developed rapidly and is increasingly used for public policy research. This panel creates knowledge on how advances in NLP help address this challenge and advance policy research. Digital polarization – quo vadis? The way we debate social problems and public policy solutions – or the channels we increasingly use to do so – reinforce polarization. How do digitalization, social media, or AI influence democracies’ culture of public debate, including participation? How are citizens' perceptions of public policy and administration shaped by digital discourses? How can policy debates be conducted to counteract digital polarization? VIRTUAL PANEL Qualitative Methodological Advancements in Public Policy Research This panel invites papers dealing with qualitative methodological advancements, such as innovations regarding Process Tracing, Qualitative Content Analysis, Qualitative Comparative Analysis, or ethnographic methods. Papers may also deal with methods-related issues, such as ethics in qualitative research or data collection processes. The panel welcomes methodological papers as well as papers applying innovative methods.