Public Management and Democratic Repair.

Conference focus

Periods of political and institutional change bring the relationship between democracy and public management into especially sharp focus. Restoring trust, strengthening institutional capacity, avoiding (re)capture of state institutions and ensuring accountable and effective government all depend on how public organizations are designed, led, and managed.

The conference welcomes submissions across the breadth of public management research and particularly encourages work addressing the possibilities, limits, and trade-offs of how public management reforms can contribute to democratic repair — or hinder it.

Participant guidelines

• Each participant may submit a maximum of two paper proposals, including individual papers, co-authored papers and papers within a panel.
• Each participant may have a maximum of two accepted paper proposals but may present only once during the conference.
• Panel, roundtable and workshop organisers are strongly encouraged to include a broad range of perspectives and approaches. Comparative contributions are particularly encouraged.

Submission types

Individual papers

Traditional research papers. Submissions may be empirical — qualitative, quantitative or mixed-methods — or theoretical/conceptual.

Panels

Panels should consist of four complementary papers and a chair. The submission must name a chair and may include a discussant. Panel chairs should submit the proposal including a panel title and a maximum 400-word abstract explaining the theme, its cohesion and a brief abstract of each paper. Authors of papers included in a panel do not need to submit individually. The programme committee aims to preserve proposed panels but may add individual papers that align with a panel’s topic where necessary.

Roundtables

Sessions designed for high-level, interactive discussion of significant and timely issues in public management. Roundtable chairs should submit a title and description explaining the goals, importance, format and invited speakers.

Pre-Conference Workshops

Interactive, skills-based sessions on professional development, methods training or emerging issues in public management research and education. Workshops will be held on 2 June 2027. Submissions should cover objectives, relevance, format and length, target audience, ideal number of participants, logistical or technical needs, and any available sponsorship.

Submission guidelines

All submissions must include:

• Author information, including all co-authors or participants.
• Submission title.
• Two to three keywords.
• An abstract of no more than 400 words, including a clear statement of the topic or research question.
• Academic references; foundational references are encouraged.

Review process and alternative sessions

Individual paper submissions will undergo a double-blind peer review process with at least two reviewers. Panel, roundtable and workshop submissions will be reviewed separately.