12Sep 2014
CFP Workshop on social policy formulation and design, Singapore February 2015
01:54 - By Hal Colebatch - Events
The purpose of the workshop is thus to apply the concepts of policy formulation and policy design thinking to the social policy sphere. Papers at the workshop will apply the central concerns in public policy evaluation ‑ effectiveness, efficiency, equity, security, sustainability etc – to different policy tools configurations in order to understand their potential use and limitations across problems and socio-economic contexts. In addition, papers will examine the manner in which policymakers and client groups learn from past experiences, or not, in their design, creation and enactment of social policy.
CALL FOR PAPERS International Workshop on SOCIAL POLICY: FORMULATION AND DESIGN IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
National University of Singapore
12-13 February 2014 (sic)
Social problems are complex, with a variety of economic, social, and political causes and consequences. Social policy design thus needs to be correspondingly sophisticated if it is to address the different, often contradictory, policy goals, requiring policy makers to employ a variety of tools in intricate combinations.
Yet too much of the scholarly discussion on social policy is conducted at very high levels of abstraction – dealing with issues such as state versus market orientations; Eastern communitarianism versus Western welfarism; social democratic versus neo-liberal welfare regimes, and so on – which do not translate easily into policy designs considerations and knowledge. This workshop focuses specifically on the latter issues: on the consequences and significance of different design features of programs that are already in place and the lessons and principles these provide to policy makers engaged in developing new programs to address social problems.
Papers are encouraged to examine questions such as:
· What is the range of policy tools available to policy makers for addressing contemporary social problems? What sorts of policy tools are appropriate for what policy problems? What are the predictable and actual consequences of the choices?
· How are policy mixes constructed in social policy sectors and how effective are they?
· How does public policy theory inform the understanding of public policy making? What role does evaluation play in designing appropriate policy tools for specific social problems, and influencing social policy reforms?
Proposals for papers of and entirely theoretical nature or theoretically-grounded comparisons of social policies, especially social protection in Asia, are particularly encouraged and welcome. The comparisons may be cross-sector or cross-national in focus.
A small number of accepted papers will be eligible for economy-class airfare to Singapore and hotel accommodation. The selection will be on the basis of the quality of abstracts and their fit with the workshop theme.
Paper proposals (approximately 500 words) are due 15 Nov 2014. Decisions on program composition and travel subsidy will be made in the first week of Dec 2014. Final papers must be received by 1 February 2015.
Please send your proposals to socialpolicydesign@gmail.com .
Workshop Conveners: M Ramesh, Michael Howlett, Namrata Chindarkar,