[Tps] ECPR Theoretical Perspectives in Policy Analysis, Standing Group - Call for Papers IPSA

[Navdeep Mathur]

From: Nick Turnbull <nick.turnbull at manchester.ac.uk>

www.politologija.hr

RESEARCH COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC POLICY
AND ADMINISTRATION
 INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION


Papers are now invited for presentation to a conference on

Constructing policy work in a changing governmental environment

13th – 15th June 2008
 Dubrovnik, Croatia

convened by the Research Committee on Public Policy and Administration
of the IPSA and hosted by the Croatian Political Science Association
(CPSA), University of Dubrovnik (Croatia) and Faculty of Political
Sciences of the University of Zagreb.

There is increasing attention, both among scholars and practitioners,
to the practices and organizational forms through which policy is
generated – 'policy work'. The work of 'making policy' is increasingly
recognized in the organization and practices of government, but at the
same time, it appears to be more problematic, and the conference will
provide an opportunity for exploring some of the ways in which
assumptions about policy are being challenged.
* Both academics and practitioners are moving beyond simple maps
depicting the policy process in terms of 'advising decision-makers'.
There is wide recognition that the work of governing involves more
than the activities of government – reflected in the increasing use of
the term 'governance'. Policy work may involve linking the activities
of a range of governmental and non-governmental bodies.  * Policy is
seen as extending beyond the control of the activities of government,
and is reaching into the regulation of the 'life-world', in such
matters as diet, smoking and child-rearing, where regulatory
structures and practices are less overt.  * Increasingly, there is an
international dimension to policy work. On a global scale, bodies like
the World Trade Organization or the World Health Organization become
major sources of policy. At the regional level, the development of the
European Union is a force for the alignment of policy practice in the
member countries around a common model.
 * Regime change generates pressure for the transformation of policy
practice. In Eastern Europe, there has been a searching for new ways
generating policy, as part of the transformation of government that
has followed the end of the communist era. On a global scale, the
World Bank's agenda of 'good governance' embodies particular
assumptions about appropriate ways of 'doing policy'.  * This raises
the question of the source models of good practice in policy work, and
the assumptions which underlie them.  The conference will provide a
venue for the exploration of all of these dimensions of policy work,
both at an empirical and an analytical level.

The conference will be a particularly suitable venue for PhD students
to present their research, establish links with other scholars, and
identify factors which can impede or stimulate research.
 Those wishing to attend the conference should apply on the web page
(www.politologija.hr), and if wishing to present a paper, filling out
the Application form. The application, including the topic of the
presentation and a summary (one to two pages) should be sent by the
30th April 2008.


Hal K. Colebatch
Chair, Research Committee on Public Policy and Administration

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Dr Nick Turnbull
Politics, School of Social Sciences
The University of Manchester
Oxford Rd
Manchester M13 9PL
United Kingdom

Email: nick.turnbull at manchester.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)161 275 4833
Fax: +44 (0)161 275 4925
Web: http://www.socialsciences.man.ac.uk/politics/