JCPA SPECIAL SECTIONS

Comparative Policy Concepts, Statistics, and Analytics

The JCPA regularly features a section entitled “Comparative Policy Concepts, Statistics, and Analytics.” We invite submissions and proposals focusing on all aspects of policy measurement, analytics and statistics with a comparative twist. We publish articles on policy outcomes and impacts, such as measurements and comparative indicators of economic, environmental, and social well-being, as well as data on policy outputs, i.e., measures adopted by the governments, international and supranational organizations, and other relevant societal actors.

We are especially interested in new indices, data sources, analytical tools, practices in measurement and data analytics, and reflections on comparative analysis and research methods that can be effectively used in policy analysis. If you have an idea for a paper, please contact the section co-editors.

Submissions should run 6,000 to 7,000 words and should be amply supported with tables, charts, and figures.

Section Co-Editors:
Jidong Chen, Tsinghua University: chenjidong@tsinghua.edu.cn
Yves Steinebach, University of Oslo: yves.steinebach@stv.uio.no
Pragya Bhuwania, University of California at Los Angeles, USA: pragyabhuwania@ucla.edu

Qualitative Comparative Policy Studies

This special section is dedicated to articles that embrace studies on the design and development of qualitative comparative policy studies and their application to comparative policy analysis. The section welcomes pieces that take on the very question of how contextual differences may be preserved, while carrying out comparative research in public policy and is open to a variety of approaches. Such as, the exploration of new as well as established critical questions and methods, including comparative policy analysis throughout time; persistent methodological challenges; and propositions of new approaches and qualitative methods for the field.

The section takes on a broad definition of comparison transcending national boundaries and national case study research and encourages explorations on the transnational dimension of policy analysis and policy making.

Submissions should run at most 6,000 to 7,000 words. 

Watch the related interview here.

Section Co-Editors:
Michelle Morais de Sa e Silva, University of Oklahoma, USA: michelle.morais@ou.edu
Gita Steiner-Khamsi, Columbia University, USA: gs174@tc.columbia.edu
Caner Bakir, Koç University, Turkiye: CBAKIR@ku.edu.tr

Policy Innovation

This section welcomes papers that discuss a new innovation in any aspect of public policy, in any policy area or jurisdiction around the world, from a comparative perspective. By policy innovation, we mean the adoption of problem framing, policy alternatives, practices, processes, or structures, at any stage of the policy cycle, that are new in a specific policy context.

Submissions should run, at most, 6,000 to 7,000 words.

Manuscripts should contain the following sections:

  • Description of the innovation in public policy. This section should also explain what is novel and/or unique about it.
  • Discussion of the (likely) impact or implications of this policy innovation for policy outcomes, be it programmatic, process, and/or political.
  • Identification of relevant lessons from this case for other policy areas, jurisdictions, and/or the field of comparative policy analysis.

Section Co-Editors:
Valerie Pattyn, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium and Leiden University, The Netherlands: v.e.pattyn@fgga.leidenuniv.nl
Nihit Goyal, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands: Nihit.Goyal@tudelft.nl
Mehmet Akif Demircioglu, Carleton University, Canada: MehmetDemircioglu@cunet.carleton.ca 

Book Reviews

Through critical engagement with some of the key comparative studies in the field, the JCPA Book Reviews Section aims to provide a substantive contribution to exploring and understanding the complexities in policy making processes, policy outputs and policy outcomes. The co-editors conceive of book reviews as special opportunities to provide our readers with detailed overviews of various policy arenas and comparative approaches ensuring that key concepts and theories are explained and contextualized comprehensively. These reviews serve not only as academic resources but also as guides, offering insights into whether a book aligns with a reader’s specific interests and scholarly needs.

The co-editors will pay particular attention to books that offer an original comparative perspective on policies in their respective region.

The reviews are up to 2000 words in length, and the section appears six times a year, that is, in each one of the JCPA annual issues.

If you are interested in proposing a new book for review, please approach the co-editors:
Pablo Bulcourf, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes / Universidad de Buenos Aires: pablo_bulcourf@yahoo.com.ar
Yixin Dai, Tsinghua University: yixindai@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn
Adrienne Davidson, McMaster University, Canada: adrienne.davidson@mcmaster.ca
Mattia Casula, University of Bologna: mattia.casula2@unibo.it