Annual conference of the Policy Analysis and Administrative Science Section in Braunschweig
On March 14 and 15, Johanna Amend, Johanna Künzler and Colette Vogeler took part in the annual conference of the Policy Analysis and Administrative Science Section in Braunschweig, where they presented their latest research findings. In addition to discussing current research findings, the conference offered excellent networking opportunities with academics from all over Germany. This year's conference was organized by former colleagues of Colette Vogeler from the TU Braunschweig, many thanks to the CoPPP team for the great event!
New publication published
When Outsiders Step In: Investigating the Phenomenon of Reputational Support
On January 23, 2024, a new article by Johanna Kuenzler was published in the journal "Administration & Society". The article introduces the concept of reputational support to research on the reputation of public organizations. This refers to the behaviour of actors external to the organization who support and explain the organization to the public. Reputational support can be a valuable resource for public organizations.
The article was written as part of the Swiss National Science Foundation-funded project "KESB: Moralpolitische Kontroverse um eine Behördenreform" (grant no. 177405).
Guest lecture on narratives and policy change at Bielefeld University
On January 16, 2024, Johanna Künzler gave a digital guest lecture at Bielefeld University on the topic of "Narratives and policy change in social policy". Using the example of the Swiss child and adult protection authorities, she showed that policy change can occur not only during the formulation of a policy, but also during its implementation. Narratives can play a key role here. The lecture was attended by students and members of the university. There was a lively discussion on the effectiveness of narratives in different contexts and on the lessons that other authorities can learn from the Swiss case study.
New publication published
In this paper, which is available online since October 12, 2023, the animal welfare regulations in dairy cattle production in five countries with different combinations of legislative and other approaches were compared: Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
ECPR-conference in Prag
At the beginning of September, Johanna Künzler and Anne-Marie Parth attended the General Conference of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), where they presented current research papers and moderated events. Colette Vogeler's two colleagues were involved in the following formats:
- Walking on eggshells? Voting behavior in the EU in times of agri-food reforms (presentation of a joint paper by Anne-Marie Parth and Colette Vogeler)
- Back to square one? The impact of the war in the Ukraine on narratives about fossil fuels (Presentation of a paper by Johanna Künzler)
- Local pathways to sustainable food systems (moderated by Johanna Künzler and Giulia Bazzan)
- Food production in times of climate change (moderated by Anne-Marie Parth)
Johanna Künzler was also elected to the management team of the Public Policy Standing Group. Together with Johanna Hornung, Karin Ingold and Vilém Novotný, she plans activities and events on the topic of public policy, promotes exchange and cooperation as well as the conceptual development of policy process theories.
New publications out:
Dairy cattle welfare – the relative effect of legislation, industry standards and labelled niche production in five European countries (in: animal 2023)
In this paper - available online since 12 Ocoter 2023 - we compared animal welfare provisions in dairy cattle production across five countries with different combinations of legislative and other approaches: Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
Public agency resilience in times of democratic backsliding: Structure, collaboration and professional standards
On 09.06.2023, a new article by Johanna Kuenzler together with Bettina Stauffer and Fritz Sager was published in the journal "Governance". The article explores how public authorities can acquire resilience in times of democratic backsliding. A conceptual contribution, underpinned by an empirical study of Swiss child and adult welfare authorities, shows that an appropriate organisational structure, internal collaboration and professional standards help authorities to avoid counterproductive blame-avoidance strategies in the face of external attacks.
The article is in the public domain and was written as part of the Swiss National Science Foundation-funded project "KESB: Moralpolitische Kontroverse um eine Behördenreform" (Grant No. 177405).
From 11 to 12 May 2023, a research workshop was held at the University of Speyer, organized by Professor Vogeler's team. The aim of the workshop was to conceptualize and empirically test the integration of the concept of power into the "Narrative Policy Framework", a theory of the policy process. To this end, a total of eleven research papers were presented and discussed. The program was rounded off with a keynote speech by Michael D. Jones, one of the three founders of the Narrative Policy Framework.
The participants traveled from different parts of the world: People from Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, and the United States met on site. Participants from India, England, Ecuador and Italy were also digitally connected.
The chair team was also represented at the workshop with its own contributions. For example, Anne Parth presented a joint project with researchers from Heidelberg University in which narratives on the topic of climate change on Twitter are analyzed using machine learning methods.
A special issue is to be produced from the research papers presented at the workshop. The aim is to make the content discussed in Speyer available to the international research community.
First training conference "Shaping municipal climate policy: Instruments, procedures and strategies" held jointly with Prof. Dr. Stephan Grohs
Triggers and Hierarchies of Social Identities in the European Parliament
A new article by Colette Vogeler together with Johanna Hornung and Nils C. Bandelow was published in the Journal of Commom Market Studies on 08.03.2023. The article examines the role and hierarchy between the national and European political group affiliations of Members of the European Parliament in relation to their voting behaviour during the ninth parliamentary term. The results show that some national and some party political identities are stronger than others in the European Parliament.
Programmatic action in Chinese health policy—The making and design of “Healthy China 2030”
On 24.01.2023, a new article by Colette Vogeler was published in Review of Policy Research. She uses the Programmatic Action Framework (PAF) to examine China's national health programme "Healthy China 2030". This sheds light on the applicability of the framework to a non-democracy, highlighting limitations and challenges. The work contributes to the further development of the helpful perspective that this newly developed framework offers in relation to the identification of programmatic groups and the potential for success of political programmes.
COPPR Conference in Bern/Denver
The first Conference on Policy Process Research (COPPR) was held at the University of Colorado, Denver from 12 to 14 January 2023. Colette Vogeler, Johanna Kuenzler and Anne-Marie Parth participated in the satellite conference, which was organised at the University of Bern by Karin Ingold and Caroline Schlaufer. Johanna Kuenzler moderated a panel on ": Stories from the City - The Narrative Policy Framework in Urban and Local Settings" and Anne-Marie Parth presented a joint team working paper on "No more fashion victim? Understanding agenda change in fur farming by applying the multiple streams framework". We would like to thank the team around Karin Ingold and Caroline Schlaufer for the great conference organisation and all conference participants in Denver and Bern for the exciting and constructive discussions.
New publication out:
On 28.10.2022, a new article by Johanna Künzler together with Bettina Stauffer (University of Bern) was published as part of Johanna Künzlers doctoral thesis at the University of Bern. The article, published in the Policy Studies Journal, presents a new concept for the Narrative Policy Fremwork (NPF), an emerging theory for the study of the policy process. Johanna Künzler and Bettina Stauffer propose that components of narratives should be distinguished according to whether they address the substance of a policy (i.e. the design of the policy, the instruments and goals contained therein) or whether they address the process of a policy (who drives the process, who gets a say in the process, etc.). They apply this distinction to the case of Swiss child and adult protection authorities and show that it can yield useful insights for both research and practice. The article is freely accessible (open access).
Workshop on Narratives and Power at the University of Speyer
On 11 and 12 May 2023, Prof. Colette Vogeler, her colleagues, Sonja Blum (University of Bielefeld / University of Hagen) and Johanna Kuhlmann (University of Bremen) will organise a workshop on the Narrative Policy Framework at the University of Speyer. The aim of the workshop is to examine the topic of "power" within the framework more closely. While initial studies have looked at conceptualisations and applications of this, the topic as a whole is still under-researched. The aim of the workshop is to write articles for a special issue in an internationally recognised journal.
The full call for papers for the workshop can be found here.
Interview trip to Denmark as part of the DFG project
As part of the DFG project TIER, Colette Vogeler spent two weeks in Denmark, hosted by colleagues Prof. Carsten Daugbjerg and Prof. Peter Sandøe at the University of Copenhagen.
With the aim of researching the design of animal welfare policies in farm animal husbandry in Denmark and gaining a better understanding of the current dynamics, Colette Vogeler conducted numerous interviews, including with experts from the agricultural sector as well as the animal welfare sector.
Special thanks go to Carsten Daugbjerg and Peter Sandøe for their hospitality and support on site.
On Tuesday, January 26, 2022, Colette Vogeler received her certificate of appointment as a university professor.
The certificate was handed over by the university rector Professor Mühlenkamp.
We are looking forward to the cooperation and soon to further reinforcements in our chair team!
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New Publication in the Journal of Comparative Governance and Politics (2021) now online: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12286-021-00496-3
This study examines the policy preferences of political groups in the 8th European Parliament regarding the design of agricultural policy and the integration of environmental goals therein. Due to the high degree of Europeanization of the Common Agricultural Policy, the analysis of party positions at the EU level is particularly interesting. To what extent are the positions of political groups changing against the background of the increasing public awareness for environmental and animal welfare issues in agricultural policy? By means of a discourse network analysis of the plenary debates on selected policy proposals during the 8th term of the European Parliament, the positions of the political groups in agricultural policymaking are explored. The comparative analysis clearly reveals differences in problem perceptions and preferred policy solutions between the different political groups. Substantive differences are apparent between the EPP on the one side and the Greens/EFA and the GUE/NGL on the other side. EPP members still mostly represent traditional agricultural goals such as food security and income support for farmers, whereas the Greens/EFA and the GUE/NGL deputies promote a change towards a more environmentally and animal welfare friendly agricultural policy. At the same time, the analysis reveals a broad consensus across political groups regarding the general need to increasingly integrate sustainability concerns in the design of the future Common Agricultural Policy.
