Policy and society

Our research

Why?

Policy and society. They seem to be closely interwoven. Because invariably, it is the questions or needs of citizens that prompt policymakers to design new rules and/or action. And such public interventions, in turn, often seek to make an unmistakable social impact, such as by nudging certain target groups into specific behaviour or by setting clear boundaries and barriers. Or are policy and society today further apart than ever? For why do pressing issues in the field of security and climate change not get to the top of the public agenda and/or in time, and are democratic measures massively criticised in times of crisis?

Policy research is essential to investigate the efficiency, effectiveness, and fairness of governance choices to resolve societal challenges. We need to know how policy is made, why it is made in such a way, what influences policy outputs and outcomes, and whether policies are up to the task of solving societal issues. Better governance requires knowledge on what works, why, how and under what circumstances.

How and what?

This line of research aims to contribute to a better and sustainable understanding of their mutual interaction. That is why we work from multiple disciplines and perspectives. We not only want to describe, but also explain in order to better understand and even forecast. That’s why we work deductively on the basis of existing frameworks, models and theories, but also inductively based on observations and classification. With a view to reaching understandable patterns and mechanisms in adopting policy within a social context. To this end, we use qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods approaches. Research into policy and society employs qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods approaches.

Publications

Zaki, B. L. (2024). Policy Learning Governance: A new perspective on agency in policy learning theories. Policy & Politics.
Zaki, B. L., & Dupont, C. (2023). Understanding political learning by scientific experts: A case of EU climate policy. Journal of European Public Policy.
Zaki, B. L. (2023). Practicing policy learning during creeping crises: Key principles and considerations from the COVID-19 crisis. Policy Design and Practice.
Zaki, B. L., & Wayenberg, E. (2023). Policy learning and the COVID-19 crisis: A systematic review of scholarship and key lessons for research and practice. Australian Journal of Public Administration.
Zaki, B. L. (2023). Strategic Planning in Interesting Times: From intercrisis to intracrisis responses. Public Money and Management.
Zaki, B. L., & Wayenberg, E. (2023). How does policy learning take place across a multilevel governance architecture during crisis? Policy & Politics. doi:10.1332/030557321X16680922931773
Zaki, B. L., Pattyn, V., & Wayenberg, E. (2022). Policy learning mode shifts during creeping crises: A storyboard of COVID-19 driven learning in Belgium. European Policy Analysis.
Zaki, B. L., Wayenberg, E., & George, B. (2022). A Systematic Review of Policy Learning: Tiptoeing through a Conceptual Minefield. Policy Studies Yearbook, 12(1). 1-52
Pattyn, V., Zaki, B. L., & Wayenberg, E. (2022). Beleid in sluipende crisistijd: het Belgische relaas van COVID-19 gedreven beleidsleren. Vlaams Tijdschrift voor Overheidsmanagement (VTOM).
Zaki, B. L., Nicoli, F., Wayenberg, E., & Verschuere, B. (2022). Contagious inequality: Economic disparities and excess mortality during the Covid-19 pandemic. Policy & Society, 41(2), 199–216
Zaki, B. L., Nicoli, F., Wayenberg, E., & Verschuere, B. (2022). In Trust we Trust?: The impact of trust in government on excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Public Policy and Administration, 37(2), 226–252
Zaki, B. L., & George, B. (2021). New development: Policy learning and public management—a match made in crisis. Public Money and Management, 42(2), 129-132
Zaki, B., & Wayenberg, E. (2021). Shopping in the scientific marketplace : COVID-19 through a policy learning lens. POLICY DESIGN AND PRACTICE, 4(1), 15–32.
Dupont, C., Oberthür, S. & von Homeyer, I. (2020) ‘The Covid-19 crisis: a critical juncture for EU climate policy development?’ Journal of European Integration, 42(8), 1095-1110.
Wayenberg, E. (2020). Bouwen aan beleid : het proces van de overheid. OWL.
George, B., Verschuere, B., Wayenberg, E., & Zaki, B. L. (2020). A Guide to Benchmarking COVID ‐19 Performance Data. Public Administration Review, 80(4). 696-700
Panchuk, D., Bossuyt, F., & J. Orbie. 2017. “The Substance of EU Democratic Governance Promotion via Transgovernmental Cooperation with the Eastern Neighbourhood”, Democratization, 24(6), pp. 1044-65 (IF: 2.500).
Wayenberg, E. (2017). Framing en beleid : over waarheden maken, kraken en aan elkaar haken. BELEIDSONDERZOEK ONLINE, 6(3).