Policy Feedback Dynamics in East Asia: Comparative Perspectives on Institutional Transformation and Policy Evolution

𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗣𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦

Policy Feedback Dynamics in East Asia: Comparative Perspectives on Institutional Transformation and Policy Evolution

𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹:
Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice

𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿:
Routledge – Taylor & Francis Group

𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲:
25 October 2026

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

The Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice invites submissions for a Special Issue on “Policy Feedback Dynamics in East Asia: Comparative Perspectives on Institutional Transformation and Policy Evolution.”

Policy feedback theory has significantly advanced understanding of how policies shape politics after implementation. Policies do not simply produce outcomes; they can reconfigure institutions, reshape coalitions, influence citizen participation, and affect future policy choices. While much of the existing policy feedback literature has developed within Western democratic contexts, East Asia offers a rich setting for examining how feedback dynamics operate under conditions of rapid socioeconomic transformation, strong state capacity, and diverse institutional arrangements.

This Special Issue focuses on how policies in East Asian societies generate feedback effects that influence subsequent policy development, institutional evolution, and governance capacity.

𝗦𝗰𝗼𝗽𝗲 & 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲

East Asian countries are undergoing major policy transformations across areas such as population policy, healthcare, housing, digital governance, environmental policy, and economic restructuring. Examples include China’s shift from restrictive to pro-natalist population policies, Japan’s healthcare reforms in response to population ageing, South Korea’s housing policy innovations, and Singapore’s digital governance initiatives.

These transformations create new incentives, reshape stakeholder behavior, and influence the direction of future reforms. The Special Issue aims to refine policy feedback theory by examining feedback dynamics in rapidly changing societies where state capacity, institutional arrangements, and state-society relations may differ significantly from Western contexts.

𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀

Submissions may address, but are not limited to:

• Policy feedback mechanisms in East Asian institutional contexts
• Resource and interpretive effects of public policies
• State capacity, administrative traditions, and policy evolution
• State-society relations and institutional transformation
• Self-reinforcing and self-undermining policy dynamics
• Cross-sectoral policy feedback across welfare, regulatory, distributive, and constitutive policies
• Temporal dimensions of policy feedback in rapidly changing societies
• Policy timing, sequencing, durability, and path dependence
• Comparative East-West analysis of policy feedback processes
• Policy feedback in demographic, healthcare, housing, digital governance, and environmental policy domains
• Institutional change and policy learning in East Asian governance systems

𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀

The Special Issue welcomes diverse methodological approaches, including:

• Comparative case studies
• Cross-country comparative analysis
• Subnational and cross-regional comparisons
• Longitudinal analysis
• Process tracing
• Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)
• Quantitative methods
• Mixed-methods research
• Experimental designs

Authors should clearly explain their methodology and demonstrate how their research contributes to policy feedback theory and comparative policy analysis.

𝗚𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀

Yue Guo
School of Government, Beijing Normal University, China
Email: guoyue@bnu.edu.cn

Ciqi Mei
School of Public Policy & Management, Tsinghua University, China
Email: cmei@tsinghua.edu.cn

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀

Call for Papers: January 2026
Abstract Submission Deadline: 20 March 2026
Abstract Acceptance Notification: 1 April 2026
Full Paper Submission for Workshop: 20 May 2026
Paper Development Workshop: 17 June 2026 (Tentative)
Final Paper Submission to JCPA: 12–25 October 2026
Expected Publication: 2027

𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀

Authors should first submit a 500-word abstract by email to the Guest Editors before 20 March 2026.

Abstracts should clearly include:

• Research question and theoretical contribution
• Empirical cases and comparative approach
• Methodological design and analytical strategy
• Expected findings and implications for theory and practice

Full papers must represent original research not under consideration elsewhere and must follow the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice author guidelines.

𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Accepted papers will be discussed at a Paper Development Workshop hosted by the School of Government, Beijing Normal University. The workshop is tentatively scheduled to be held at the university’s Zhuhai campus in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China.

Participation in the workshop is mandatory for invited papers to receive constructive feedback from peers and Guest Editors. Accommodation for one author of each paper will be covered by the organizer. Invitation to the workshop does not guarantee final publication.

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

For inquiries and abstract submissions, please contact:

Yue Guo
Email: guoyue@bnu.edu.cn

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹

The Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice is a leading international peer-reviewed journal dedicated to advancing comparative policy research, governance studies, and policy analysis. The journal publishes theoretically informed and methodologically rigorous research that deepens understanding of policy processes, institutional change, and public governance across countries and regions.

𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘂 𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀 — 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 & 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

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