CANCELLED: Polforsk summer school - stream 3: Public Policy: Explaining policy change

Please, register here:
PLEASE NOTICE. That you are registrated, does not mean you are approved. When Polforsk arranges a course, you will usually be informed about approval within one week after the registration deadline.

Responsible: Michael Baggesen-Klitgaard (Associate Professor, Political Science, University of Southern Denmark) and Christoffer Green-Pedersen (Professor, Political Science, Aarhus University)

From: 2012/05/20 to: 2012/05/23
Registration Deadline: 2012/04/20
Place: Torvehallerne, Vejle: Kirketorvet 12, 7100 Vejle
Fee: 3500 kr.
ECTS (Get approval from your own department!!!): 4½

Short description:

The aim of the workshop is to present and discuss theories dealing with questions about change and stability of public policy.

Lecturers: Michael Baggesen-Klitgaard (Associate Professor, Political Science, University of Southern Denmark) and Christoffer Green-Pedersen (Professor, Political Science, Aarhus University). Key notes: Giuliano Bonoli (Professor IDHEAP - Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration); Patrick Marier (Associate Professor, Political Science, Concordia University)

Further information: mbk@sam.sdu.dk

Thematic outline of the Public Policy Stream

Explaining public policy developments remain a central issue within political science, and the discussion about public policy determinants, policy change and stability figures prominently on the scholarly agenda. The public policy stream of the Danish Ph.d. summer school engage in particular with the discussion about the determinants of modern public policy developments. Central questions to discuss in this stream are, for example, whether partisanship continues to matter for policy formation in advanced democracies also in the era of demising class politics; the impact of political institutions on the development, or non-development, of policy programs; the role policy ideas, learning and knowledge plays for the facilitation of policy adoption and policy change; and the relationship between agenda-dynamics and stability and change. There is, in short, a wide range of theories that are central to discuss and elaborate to understand public policy in advanced nations. It is the ambition of this stream to cover most of these theoretical issues.


Deciding upon a theoretical perspective to analyze public policy is important to any policy research project. But just as important are the methodological decisions about how to define the dependent variable, how it should be researched and measured, the type of data that should be collected in order to answer properly the raised questions. It is the intention of this stream also to create a forum for the discussion of this type of questions. Hence, we invite papers to the stream that confronts the various theoretical and methodological challenges associated with the study of public policy regardless of whether the focus is on analyzing the processes of policy making or the study of policy outcomes. The stream consists of lectures and discussions addressing the theoretical and methodological issues on which the stream is focusing, facilitated by the coordinaters and two keynotes with specific expertise in the subject matter. But it is also central for the stream to offer participants an opportunity to present papers and own work in order to have things discussed in an open atmosphere. And we welcomes all kind of papers; from a few pages that presents the ideas and general thoughts of recently started Ph.d.-projects, to the more polished papers almost ready for submission.



Outline of the Program


Monday

9.00-11.00: Check-in, welcomes and introduction: Common for the Summer school

11.00-12.00: Christoffer Green-Pedersen: Public policy as the dependent variable in comparative political analysis

12.00-13.30: Lunch break

13.30-15.00: Keynote I: Giuliano Bonoli: How much do institutions matter? Stability and convergence in social policy making in OECD countries"

15.00-18.00: Paper presentations

Literature:

  • Bonoli, G. (2010). "The political economy of active labour market policies." Politics & Society 38(4): 435-457.

  • Green-Pedersen, Christoffer (2004) “The Dependent Variable Problem within the Study of Welfare-State Retrenchment: Defining the problem and looking for solutions, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, 6 (1), 3-14.

  • Jordan, Andrew et al. (eds.) (2012) Dismantling Public Policy, Oxford, Oxford University Press


Tuesday

9.00-11.00: Michael Baggesen Klitgaard: Reforming public policy beyond class politics

11.00-12.00: Paper presentation

12.00-13.30: Lunch break

13.30-15.00: Key note II: Patrick Marier: Sources of Expertise in Executive Styles and Their Impact on the Policy Making Process: Evidence from Canada

15.00-18.00: Paper presentations

Literature

  • Elmelund-Præstekær, Christian & Michael Baggesen Klitgaard (forthcoming). “Policy or Institution? The Political Choice of Retrenchment Strategy”, Journal of European Public Policy

  • Hausermann, Silja (2010). “Solidarity with whom? Why Organized labour is losing ground in Continental pension politics”, European Journal of Political Research 49: 223-256

  • Starke, Peter (2006). “The Politics of Welfare State Retrenchment: A Literature Review”, Social Policy & Administration, 40:1, 104-120.


Wednesday

9.00-11.00: Michael Baggesen Klitgaard: Public policy and the struggle for power

11.00-12.00: Paper Presentation

12.00-13.30: Lunch break

13.30-15.00: Christoffer Green-Pedersen: Parties, policies and agenda setting

15.00-18.00

Literature

  • Hacker, Jacob S. & Paul Pierson (2010) “Winner-Take-All Politics: Public Policy, Political Organization, and the Precipitous Rise of Top Incomes in the United States”, Politics & Society 38(2): 152-204.

  • Klitgaard, Michael Baggesen (2007). “Social Democracy and Market Oriented Welfare State Reforms”, West European Politics 30(1): 172-94.

  • Baumgartner, Frank R., Bryan D. Jones & John Wilkerson (2011) ”Comparative Studie of Policy Dynamics”, Comparative Political Studies, 44(8), 947-972.

  • Green-Pedersen, Christoffer & Jesper Krogstrup (2008), ”Immigration as a political issue in Denmark and Sweden”, European Journal of Political Research, 47(5) 610-638.


Thursday

9.00-11.00: Michael Baggesen Klitgaard & Christoffer Green-Pedersen: Data and methodology in policy research

11.00-12.00: Paper presentation

12.00-13.30: Lunch break

Literature:

  • Nørgaard, Asbjørn Sonne (2008)” Political Science: Witchcraft or Craftsmanship? Standards for Good Research, World Political Science Review 4(1), 1-28



For further information:

http://polforsk.dk/course_full_view?nn=2343

Please, register here:
PLEASE NOTICE. That you are registrated, does not mean you are approved. When Polforsk arranges a course, you will usually be informed about approval within one week after the registration deadline.
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