14Apr 2013
Conference: VALIDATING METHODS FOR COMPARING PUBLIC POLICY: ACADEMIA AND GOVERNMENT IN DIALOGUE Call for Papers
12:18 - By Hal Colebatch - Events
“Comparative public policy” has become a much used term and practice in recent years. It is not clear, however, whether and to what extent academics and practitioners have exploited methods of comparison to their full potential. In collaboration with KULeuven, the JCPA-Journal and ICPA-Forum, which have raised comparative public policy analysis on the scholarly agenda more than a decade ago, seek to open a dialogue and discuss advances in comparative research design, policy analysis, construction and validation of comparative knowledge of manipulable policies, programs and policy institutions. This two-days conference addresses the question of how academics practice methods of comparison; as well, it seeks to generate an advanced understanding of the methods of comparison used by national governments and international institutions.
Location: KULeuven, Belgium 27-30 November 2013
Under this call for papers, there are four sub-streams, inviting: 1. Scholars to present academic practices of comparison aiming to apply, validate or develop theories: - Advances in comparative public policy knowledge through quantitative comparative research - Advances in comparative public policy knowledge through qualitative comparative research - Advances in comparative public policy knowledge through mixed methods’ research - Interpretative policy analysis and comparative public policy knowledge - Fuzzy set QCA for systematically comparing configurations of cases and their attributes context - Comparative public policy knowledge from small-N and single case research 2. Scholars and practitioners to present practices of comparison of national governments and international institutions aiming to draw lessons from single or multi-case comparators: - Methods and use of international comparators - Policy learning and transfer - Comparison and policy evaluation - Peer learning and open method of co-ordination in the EU or other federal systems - Where to go with comparative databases and statistics? - Mode II research: contextualized knowledge for comparative purposes 3. PHD students to present their comparative research designs and findings on comparative public policy: - Quantitative comparative research designs - Qualitative comparative research designs - Mixed methods research designs 4. Teachers of comparative public policy to present poster proposals on teaching comparative knowledge and methods to students  VALIDATING METHODS FOR COMPARING PUBLIC POLICY: ACADEMIA AND GOVERNMENT IN DIALOGUE Call for Papers Plenary sessions: - Keynote: “Purpose, value, and constraints of comparative public policy analysis” TBA - Luncheon Keynote from OECD, UNESCO or World Bank Representative TBA - Roundtable Debate “Towards a better match between comparative policy analysis and policy-making: What institutions want from comparative research and what comparative research wants from institutions “ TBA - Roundtable Debate: “Towards a methodology of comparative public policy analysis” TBA The conference will be hosted by the Master of European Politics and Policies Programme (MEPP) (www.kuleuven.be/mepp) and the Public Management Institute of the KU Leuven, Belgium. It will take place on the Unesco World Heritage site of the Old Beguinage (http://www.facultyclub.be/en/). Since the conference takes place at the eve of the 100 years commemoration of the First World War, it will be followed by an optional excursion to the Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres and a guided visit to the war cemeteries kept by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Publications: Papers presented at this conference will be considered for publication in the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis following standard double blindfold reviews. Professors Marleen Brans and Iris Geva-May will include selected papers in a Special Issue on Public Policy Analysis Methods, Routledge, UK. www.jcpa.ca