The concept of policy capacity encompasses the collective and individual competencies through which public actors pursue their policy objectives. Over the past decade, a substantial body of scholarship has emerged across multiple disciplines to examine the theoretical and conceptual foundations of the phenomenon. This research has shown that policy capacity takes different forms across governance levels and varies according to context in both developed and developing countries. Studies have also explained how policy capacity operates through different types of individual and institutional actors. However, despite significant theoretical advances in our understanding of policy capacity, researchers still lack robust empirical frameworks to measure it or systematic methods to evaluate it in real-world settings.
The journal Policy and Society (an open access journal with Impact Factor of 5.7) seek proposals for papers for a special issue focussed entirely on the subject of measuring policy capacity. It particularly seeks papers that advance novel approaches to measuring capacity, as well as empirical studies employing quantitative and/or qualitative methodologies to measure policy capacity across diverse jurisdictions, sectors, and contexts. While theoretical papers are welcome, they must include empirical evidence or case studies that advance our understanding of capacity measurement.
We invite submissions (8,000-10,000 words) addressing:
- Methods for assessing analytical, operational, and political capacity at individual, organizational, and systemic levels;
- Measurement challenges in complex policy environments where capacity is a crucial intermediary variable;
- Comparative analyses of capacity measurement across sectors, regions, or governance systems;
- Studies examining how capacity changes over time and methods for tracking these changes;
- Approaches to measuring capacity of specific actors (bureaucrats, advisors, consultants) or advisory systems.
Submission process:
- Please send a 500-word abstract to measurepolicycapacity@gmail.com by 30 May 2025;
- The abstract should include your name, institutional affiliation, and email address. It should also briefly describe the measurement issue that motivates your paper, your theoretical and methodological approach to measurement, and how your work advances understanding of capacity measurement. Additionally, include your expected findings and the preliminary arguments you plan to develop;
- Completed papers (8,000-10,000 words) are due October 30th, 2025;
- Manuscripts should be original works that have not been published previously.
Convenors:
- Azad Bali (University of Melbourne)
- Giliberto Capano (University of Bologna)
- Michael Howlett (Simon Fraser University)
- M Ramesh (National University of Singapore)
