19Feb 2014
CFP - special issue of CEJPP on Knowledge in Policy
10:10 - By Hal Colebatch - Publications
Call for Papers − Central European Journal of Public Policy Special Issue on Knowledge in Policy: New Perspectives, New Conflicts
Guest editors: Katarína Staroňová (Comenius University) and Michal Sedlačko (University of Applied Sciences, FH Campus Wien)
Over the last two decades a number of policy scholars, international organisations as well as national governments (particularly in OECD countries) increasingly call for a more systematic use of “evidence” in public policy making. Evidence can, in this respect, be defined as explicit and systematic knowledge that corresponds to scientific criteria of quality – and appears also under names of “(scientific) expertise”, “facts” and others. Increased use of evidence has implications in terms of changes in the structure of policy making processes, the measure of influence that various actors can exert on these processes, skills of administrative staff and division of labour in public organisations, as well as technologies and organisational procedures introduced in public organisations to enable “management” of knowledge. At the same time, the trend towards more systematic use of evidence in policy practice redefines the legitimacy criteria for public policy and opens up new conflict arenas centred on knowledge production and use (see, for example, the recent public discussions around the IPCC reports or the debates on democratisation of science).
Discussions around the applicable criteria for knowledge (be they legitimacy, credibility, usability or other) and conflicts about the status of various categories of knowledge holders and the types and forms of knowledge permitted in or excluded from policy processes therefore shifted into the centre of administrative reforms and attempts to reorganise public policy making. The critique of a technocratic and managerial understanding of knowledge and its utilisation that privileges particular forms of knowledge (produced with particular ontologies and methodologies and expressed and disseminated in particular ways) and knowledge producers and other types of knowledge workers (specific disciplines, think tanks or consultants) comes from various directions, even eroding the problem-solving narrative of public policy making. As also the discussions in this journal show, there are attempts to elevate the status of “local”, “citizen” or “ordinary” knowledge; there are attempts to redefine scientific criteria of quality by including public participation and scrutiny into scientific knowledge production; there are calls for increased consideration of the “practical”, “tacit” or “experiential” knowledge of policy makers or their imagination and intuition; there is a growing debate on the boundary organisations between science and policy as well as the roles of boundary workers and knowledge brokers; and there are new conceptualisations of knowledge originating in organisational sciences and sociology that stress and problematise the organisational, technological, distributed, material and processual aspects of knowledge.
The Central European Journal of Public Policy (CEJPP) invites submissions for a special issue on new perspectives on and new conflicts around knowledge in public policy making. Building on the discussion in previous CEJPP special issues on knowledge governance (vol. 4, issue 1) and policy work, policy advisory systems and politicisation (vol. 7, issue 1), for this special issue we particularly welcome manuscripts that address one of the following areas: - What theoretical and methodological approaches particularly lend themselves to addressing the emerging challenges and complexity when researching knowledge in public policy? What are the particular methodological and practical challenges of such study? - What do case studies tell us of the patterns of use of various forms and types of knowledge in public policy making? What are the factors shaping these patterns? - What role do technologies and documents as artefacts play in terms of use of knowledge in policy work, how are they reshaping the organisation and nature of policy work? Are they opening new conflicts, corridors of action or roles for the government? - What are the new tasks, roles and actors around ‘knowledge work’ in public policy (in terms of, for example, the emergence of knowledge brokers, changing roles of think-tanks, the involvement of the public in knowledge production)? How do policy workers, and policy makers in particular, cope with the changes in demands and legitimacy of policy processes? Can we observe (on concrete examples) shifts in centres or patterns of circulation of power – and thus a reshaping of political terrain?
Please note, the above list is by no means comprehensive and any high quality research that focuses on knowledge and policy work is encouraged. We are interested in specific case studies (even micro-level empirical research) as well as coverage of broad trends and transformations – in particular when they help tell us new stories of public policy. If you are unsure of the suitability of your topic, please contact the editors of the special issue, Katarína Staroňová (katarina.staronova@fses.uniba.sk) or Michal Sedlačko (sedlacko@ihs.ac.at).
Submission procedure Deadline for this special issue is 15 June 2014, with an expected publication in the second half of 2014. All manuscripts should range from 10 to 30 pages in length and should be sent electronically via the journal webpage http://cejpp.eu in either PDF format or MS Word. Please include the phrase “Special Issue on Knowledge in Policy” in the “Comments for the Editor” field of submission form. Full submission guidelines can be found at http://www.cejpp.eu/index.php/ojs/about/submissions#authorGuidelines.
All manuscripts will undergo a double blind peer review involving respected scholars in the field.
About Central European Journal of Public Policy The CEJPP is an open-access, peer-reviewed on-line journal published in English twice a year. Its aim is to provide academic scholars and professionals in different policy fields with the latest theoretical and methodological advancements in public policy supported by sound empirical research. It is a multidisciplinary and public problems oriented journal which attempts to find a balance between description, explanation and evaluation of public policies and that encourages a wide range of social science approaches, both qualitative and quantitative. Although the journal focuses primarily upon Central Europe, relevant contributions from other geographical areas are also encouraged in order to enhance public policy research in this area. For more information, please visit http://www.cejpp.eu.