Co-Editors of Policy & Politics
To all our authors, reviewers, Editorial Board members, readers, friends and supporters,
We’re delighted to announce that Policy & Politics (P&P) has achieved a 2-year Impact Factor of 3.5 in the 2025 Journal Citation Reports, maintaining its position in the top quartile of journals in both Public Administration and Political Science.
Co-Editors of Policy & Politics
The co-editors invite abstracts for a special issue on Power and Politics in the Policy Process.
Abstract submission (500-750 words) deadline: 1 September 2026
From our perspective as editors of Policy & Politics, there is a clear gap in the literature: politics is either not explicitly addressed or under-integrated in policy process studies. The implication is that if politics is missing, then so is power. Our concern is theoretical, empirical and fundamentally practical: not enough has been done to advance knowledge about how politics influences policy responses to public problems. This is to the field’s detriment, given the increasing tendency toward illiberalism in democratic systems that fractures the pluralist norms that policy process research has long relied on.
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We are delighted to announce our annual prize winners from all articles published in Policy & Politics in 2025.
Continue readingby Kristin Taylor (co-editor), Elizabeth Koebele (co-editor) & Allegra Fullerton (Digital Associate Editor)
At the recent journal editors’ roundtable at the Conference on Policy Process Research in January 2026 in Bern, Switzerland, we were struck by the number of scholars seeking advice on how to choose the best journal to publish their research in. So, we thought we’d follow up with our top tips on choosing where to publish. Ultimately, the choice of whether a paper is accepted for review or not is at the discretion of the editorial team; however, there are ways to increase your odds of your work being selected to go under review, whether at Policy & Politics or elsewhere.
Firstly, check if your paper aligns within the aims and scope of the journal you are considering. Astonishingly, Policy & Politics desk rejects around 75% of submissions every year primarily due to their lack of fit with our aims and scope. Such rejections are largely avoidable by rigorously reading journal aims, scope, and other summaries or editorial statements on journals’ webpages. It is also worth reviewing the last several months of publications from the journal. Your submission may be more likely to be sent out for review if it engages in or extends an ongoing discourse in the journal, including pointing to areas that need further attention. Journals track debates on issues within their scope over time, so if your research questions are responding to a debate already ongoing in the journal – partly indicated through citations of appropriate articles in your references – you stand a much better chance of your article passing the desk reject stage.
Continue readingBy Ryan P. Scott, Chris M. Messer, Adam Mayer and Tami C. Bond
In this article, the authors explore the concept of calibration in policy design, highlighting how policymakers adjust the scope and design policy interventions to match political, social, and administrative realities. Building on previous work, the authors argue that policies designed with multiple targets might have mechanisms of change quite different from the obvious mechanism of the most visible policy instrument.
The editors of Policy & Politics invite proposals for a special issue that will make a significant contribution to our understanding of the nexus of public policy and politics.
Proposals submission deadline: 30 April 2026
Policy & Politics has been publishing innovative works at the intersection of public policy and politics for over 50 years. It is a world-leading, top quartile journal that is committed to advancing scholarly understanding of the dynamics of policy-making and implementation. By exploring the interplay between political actors, governing institutions and policy issues, the journal contributes to building policy process theory; and by reflecting on the evolving context in which these interactions occur, it provides timely and fresh insights into the influence of politics on policy and vice versa.
The journal’s co-editors invite proposals for a special issue to be published online and in print that will make a significant contribution to our understanding of the nexus of public policy and politics. The journal only has space to publish one special issue each year, so this is a competitive process.
Continue readingby Sarah Brown & Allegra Fullerton
Policy process theories have long provided scholars with conceptual tools for explaining how policy change occurs or stalls, and how actors, ideas, interests, and institutions interact over time. In celebration of being a sponsor of the Conference on Policy Process Research, we present this Virtual Issue featuring seven articles recently published in Policy & Politics that engage directly with leading policy process frameworks. Read on to see the latest from the Narrative Policy Framework, the Advocacy Coalition Framework, and the Multiple Streams Framework, alongside critical perspectives on policy implementation. Read together, these contributions show how policy process theories are continuously refined through empirical testing, conceptual development, and application across diverse political and institutional contexts.
Continue readingby Kevin Guyan, Doris Ruth Eikhof and Amanda Coles
In their recent article on gender equity policy and visibility-politics in the film and television industries, Guyan et al. examine how the politics of visibility shapes gender equity policy across film and television in the UK, Canada and Germany. Drawing on documentary analysis and 34 semi-structured interviews from an international comparative study, the authors show that visibility is mobilised in three distinct imaginaries—as evidence, as solution, and as demonstration of action—each carrying important policy trade-offs.
Continue readingby the P&P editorial team: Chris Weible, Allegra Fullerton, Oscar Berglund, Elizabeth Koebele, Kristin Taylor, Claire Dunlop & Sarah Brown
Dear authors, reviewers, Editorial Board members, Early Career Editorial Board members, readers, and friends of Policy & Politics,
As 2025 draws to a close, we want to extend our sincere thanks to all of you. Your scholarship, rigour and sustained engagement have played a central role in making this another strong year for the journal and the blog. In this final blog of 2025, we reflect on P&P’s achievements this year, feature our most popular blog in 2025, showcase the highest number of open access articles we’ve published this year, and consider the year to come with gratitude for our community and hope for the future of the journal and its contribution to policy scholarship.
Continue readingby Johan Christensen, Stine Hesstvedt, Kira Pronin, Cathrine Holst, Peter Munk Christiansen and Anne Maria Holli
In a recent article published in Policy & Politics, Experts in governance: a comparative analysis of the Nordic countries, Johan Christensen, Stine Hesstvedt, Kira Pronin, Cathrine Holst, Peter Munk Christiansen and Anne Maria Holli examine how expert knowledge is channelled into policy making in the Nordic region. They focus on government-appointed advisory commissions as a key institutional pathway for incorporating expertise and explore how the role of academic experts on these commissions has changed over time.
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