Revisiting Policy Process Theories and Their Relevance for Europe
6 – 7 February 2024
KPM Center for Public Management, University of Bern & online
International public policy research frequently draws from perspectives that originally were not developed in Europe. They emerged primarily from US-American contexts, which poses the need for ongoing debate whether and how they can be transferred to the European context, and the specificities that European countries bring with them. To answer this need, this two-day workshop is devoted to the question: What is the state and relevance of public policy theories in Europe? It welcomes top scholars from nine different European and North American universities to debate about the application of policy theories in Europe as regards their current state of application and potential revisions. Thereby, its objectives are:
1) to bring together European public policy researchers that reflect the diversity of the (Western) European research community regarding geographical anchorage, gender, and career status,
2) to discuss papers written by each of these workshop participants on different aspects of policy theories in Europe (e.g., literature reviews of their application across Europe, their fit into European contexts, theoretical and empirical gaps with regard to Europe),
3) to (thereby) build the basis for a special issue in the European Policy Analysis journal, a journal that is specifically designed to present a platform for European perspectives on policy research.
Participants at all career levels (students, early-career, experienced) are invited to discuss, give feedback, and ask questions following the presentations of the workshop and in the open panel discussions. The workshop specifically welcomes early career researchers and students of public policy in Switzerland (and from abroad) to engage in discussions with the workshop participants and foster networking among both junior and senior researchers.
Participation is free. Registration is required by 20th December 2023.
