Still Walking on the Bright Side? Developments in the Scientific Study of Policy Success

Call for Papers

Special Issue: Still Walking on the Bright Side? Developments in the Scientific Study of Policy Success

Journal: Policy Design and Practice

Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group

Manuscript Deadline: 31 October 2026

About the Special Issue

Policy Design and Practice invites submissions for its Open Access Special Issue titled "Still Walking on the Bright Side? Developments in the Scientific Study of Policy Success."

Building on the concept of Positive Public Administration (PPA), this Special Issue seeks to advance research on policy success by moving beyond the traditional emphasis on policy failures, crises, and governance shortcomings. It aims to strengthen a cumulative and evidence-based understanding of how successful public policies are designed, implemented, sustained, and evaluated.

The issue welcomes theoretical, methodological, and empirical contributions that examine the conditions, institutions, and governance arrangements that enable positive policy outcomes while critically assessing the concept of policy success in increasingly complex political and administrative environments.

Scope and Topics of Interest

Submissions may address, but are not limited to:

• Advances in Positive Public Administration (PPA)

• Scientific and societal implications of studying policy success

• New methods for evaluating complex and long-term policy outcomes

• Defining policy success in polarized political environments

• Theoretical and methodological innovations in policy success research

• Productive failure as part of broader success frameworks

• AI-assisted policymaking and policy evaluation

• Intergenerational justice and policy success

• Policy success, democratic legitimacy, and governance

• Institutional learning and policy memory

• Relational governance, design studies, and appreciative inquiry

• Networked and societal approaches to policy success

Submission Guidelines

• Authors should submit abstracts, paper proposals, or enquiries by 1 June 2026.

• Accepted proposals will be confirmed by the end of June 2026.

• Full manuscript submission deadline: 31 October 2026.

• Interdisciplinary research and comparative perspectives are strongly encouraged.

• All full papers should be submitted through the journal's submission system in accordance with the journal's author guidelines.

Special Issue Editors

Paul Cairney
Division of History, Heritage, and Politics, University of Stirling

Matthew Flinders
School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations, University of Sheffield

Janine O’Flynn
Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University

Tina Nabatchi
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University

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