Has Simeon's Vision Prevailed among Canadian Policy Scholars

Bibliographic Data

ID6239693
AuthorsÉric Montpetit (0000-0003-3470-0657, Université de Montréal), Christine Rothmayr Allison (0000-0002-2471-1531, Université de Montréal), Isabelle Engeli (0000-0002-6666-7057, University of Bath)
Year2016
Volume49
Issue4
Pages763-785
Publication date2016-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCanadian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0008-4239 • E-ISSN: 1744-9324
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0008423916001232
OpenAlexW2577771520
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited46

Concerned by the proliferation of idiosyncratic prescriptive case studies in the nascent subfield of policy studies, Richard Simeon, in his seminal 1976 article, asked scholars to produce more comparative policy research that aimed at explaining general events and contributing to theory building. The extent to which Simeon's vision materialized remains debated. With a view to informing this debate, we conducted a systematic content analysis of the articles published in five major generalist public policy journals from 1980 to 2015. The analysis reveals that Canadian policy scholars took a comparative turn, publishing more territorial, sector and time comparisons than in the past. We also found evidence that theoretical knowledge accumulation is more important today for Canadian authors than it was when Simeon wrote his article

Policy analysis · Political science · Public policy · Publishing · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Policy Transfer and Learning · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research

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