Speaker:  Prof. Hans Keman is Professor of Comparative Political Science at the VU University Amsterdam and Visiting Fellow at the ANU Centre of European Studies. He obtained his PhD at the University of Leyden in 1988 and has since held positions as Editor of Acta Politica – (2003 - 2007) andEuropean Journal of Political Research (1997-2003) and of the Routledge Series on Research in European Political Science (1994-1998). Between 2003 and 2007 Keman was President of the Dutch Political Science Association and between 1999 and 2003 he was President of the National Association of Anthropology, Sociology and Political Science. Prof. Keman was also a Member of the Executive of European Consortium of Political Research (ECPR) between 1994-1997 and a Chairman of the Faculty Research Board at VU University.

Paper Abstract: Public policy formation has been studied by many and in many different ways. Although originally the expertise of so-called policy analysts was dominant, since the 1970s public policy analysis became also ‚politicised’ and is now known as the debate Does Politics Matter (e.g. Castles, 1982; Schmidt, 1996). A new angle to analyse public policy was born. The essential change has been to study the effects of parties – government – institutions on public policy-making, on the one hand (e.g. Castles, 1998; Schmidt, 2002), and on the related performance (or: societal effects), on the other hand (e.g. Keman, 2002). In fact, in public policy analysis the formation and performance were used as a dependent and independent variable. As we know, most comparative analyses have focused on the Welfare State representing outcomes of public policy formation and performance (e.g. Castles, 2004). This has led – among other things – to a broader perspective in public policy studies and its use as a comparative variable (e.g. Lijphart, 2012). An important shift is to view public policy formation as a crucial variable within any political system that is produced by means of democratic decision-making (parties, organised interests and governments) but is also important in view of its societal effects: Public policy is the systemic link to study democratic performance! If we see the relationship between politics and public policy in this way, then one can utilise the comparative variation in policy formation and performance by investigating to what extent parties and governments are responsive (to electoral and party preferences), representative (in party government) and accountable (thru parliament). Using public policy analysis in this way signifies a new and fascinating trajectory in political science research. It opens avenues to investigate comparatively the extent to which democracies perform (Budge et al., 2012) and are capable to deliver what is promised and regulate what is required. In short: to acquire and develop legitimacy.

This event is co-hosted by the ANU Centre for European Studies and the School of Politics and International Relations.