FROM THE FOUNDING EDITOR

& SOCIETY FOUNDING PRESIDENT

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

In this Newsletter, we share links to the JCPA Vol 27:5-6 on Artificial Intelligence, Data-driven Technologies, and Comparative Public Policy, as well as details about the newly launched and highly attended ICPA Society and JCPA Book Talks Series. I thank the JCPA and ICPA Society teams for these exciting news.

With best wishes for the Holidays Season and a Happy 2026!

Professor Iris Geva-May

WELCOMING PROF. G. FONTAINE AS JCPA EXECUTIVE EDITOR 2026-2028

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Guillaume Fontaine as the Executive Editor of the JCPA. Professor Fontaine has been collaborating with JCPA and ICPA Society in a number of functions since 2014 as an editorial board member, institutional member, workshop convenor, Special Issue editor, Executive Editor for South America, member of the Board of Directors, and others. With a PhD from Paris 3-Sorbonne Nouvelle, France, he is a Professor and Director of the Comparative Policy Lab, FLACSO, Quito, Ecuador, as well as visiting professor at Sciences Po Paris, France. His publications on comparative public policy bring in the promise of a firm steering of the JCPA and its significant contribution to the field.

WE THANK PROF. D. BELAND FOR ROLE AS EXECUTIVE EDITOR 2021-2025



We thank Professor Daniel Beland, Director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC) and James McGill Professor, McGill University, Canada for serving as JCPA Executive Editor at large beyond the initial time of his appointment, handing over his position at the end of this year to Professor Fontaine. Professor Beland has been with the JCPA for more than a decade as a highly cited author, workshop convenor, Special Issue editor, and institutional member representative on the Executive Council. Under his Executive Editorship, the JCPA continued to publish high-quality, high-profile articles advancing comparative policy studies, and in 2024 reached an impact factor of 3.9 and cite score of 7.8.

WELCOME LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AS AN INSTITUTIONAL MEMBER! 

The London School of Economics, one of the founding institutional members of the JCPA and ICPA Society, has renewed its membership. We thank Professor Michael Barzelay for this initiative and his significant scholarly contributions to the JCPA. Prof. Barzelay will join the International Institutional Executive Council as the School's representative.

BECOME AN INSTITUTIONAL MEMBER

To become an invited institutional member and a member of the Institutional Executive Council, steering the field of comparative policy studies internationally, please contact Dr. S. Derin Atiskan at jcpaexecutive@gmail.com. As a member, you have unique tangible BENEFITS, visibility, and international collaboration opportunities for faculty and graduate students, as well as a say in research and publication initiatives advancing the field.

ICPA SOCIETY AND JCPA BOOK TALKS SERIES (See 2026 Schedule HERE.)

BOOK TALK 4: INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY OF POLICY ANALYSIS (ILPA) BOOK SERIES

Where: Zoom (Link TBA).

Date: Thursday, January 29, 2026, at 3:00 PM (EST) / 9:00 PM (CET)

This first 2026 Book Talk event showcases to date twenty-one volumes each titled “Policy Analysis in (Name of Country)”, extending a trove of information and analysis on specific countries on five continents, their governance structures, policy decision-making by domains, and policy analysis. Designed by the editors to follow a similar table of contents in terms of sections and chapters, the series allows for horizontally comparing between countries and opens a unique window for comparative research.

The ICPA Vice-President and series organizer, Professor Leslie A. Pal, Carleton University, Canada, will host the ILPA series editors Professors Michael Howlett, Research Chair, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, and Iris Geva-May, JCPA Editor-in-Chief and ICPA Society President, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver SPPA, and Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.

BOOK TALK 3: THEORIES OF THE POLICY PROCESS (Video Recording & Poster)

Date: Wednesday, December 10th, 2025

This recent highly attended Book Talk hosted Professor Christopher M. Weible, Interim Dean and Distinguished Professor, School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado, Denver, USA in dialogue with Professor Leslie Pal and the e-audience on his seminal book, Theories of The Policy Process, and his theoretical insights.

PROMOTE AND SHARE YOUR BOOK PUBLICATIONS

Contact us jcpaexecutive@gmail.com. Institutional members faculty have priority.

JCPA METHODS PANEL AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

FORTHCOMING PANEL - “USING QCA TO STUDY THE POLICY PROCESS”

Where: Conference on Policy Process Research (COPPR), Bern University, Switzerland

Date: January 21, 2026, at 9.15 am

Professors Guillaume Fontaine and Iris Geva-May will organize this JCPA Methods Panel to discuss the centrality of QCA for public policy research and comparative policy analysis.

Please also join us at the Editors' Roundtable on Thursday, 22 January at 4 pm and at the JCPA and ICPA Society stand at the Conference’s exhibition space right next to the welcome desk. Looking forward to meeting you!

JCPA AND ICPA SOCIETY AWARDS - 2025

BEST PAPER AWARDS AT PARTNER ASSOCIATIONS’ CONFERENCES

This Award aims to recognize outstanding conference papers on comparative policy analysis at our 11 Partner Associations' Conferences. The Award Certificate is extended by Routledge, JCPA, and ICPA Society. The monetary grant is made possible through the support of our International Institutional Members.

JCPA BEST COMPARATIVE PAPER AWARD, CLAD CONFERENCE

Where: CLAD Conference 2025, Asuncion, Paraguay

When: November 12, 2025

The Award recipient is Dr. Carlos Miguel Rodrigues de Caires of Universidad Austral de Chile with his paper: “El diseño de las políticas de transparencia presupuestaria en América Latina: un análisis comparado”.

The JCPA-CLAD Joint International Adjudication Committee included: Professors Michelle Morais de Sa e Silva (University of Oklahoma, USA), Pablo Alberto Bulcourf (Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Argentina), Daniel Cravacuore (National University of Quilmes, Argentina), and Mercedes Iacoviello (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina).

ANNUAL JCPA BEST COMPARATIVE ARTICLE, VOL. 26

When: November 17, 2025

Where: JCPA and ICPA Society Institutional Council Meeting, Tsinghua University, Beijing

We congratulate Francesco Pasetti of IBEI, Barcelona, Spain; Catherine Xhardez of Montreal University, Canada; Verena Wisthaler of EURAC Research, Italy; Carmine Conte of Migration Policy Group, Belgium; and Giacomo Solano of Radboud University, Netherlands for their article: “An Indicator-Based Approach to Comparative Policy Analysis: Measuring Regional Governance of Migrant Integration”.

This is what the Adjudication Committee said: “... addresses a crucial topic for policy making, which is migrant integration at a subnational level. It provides an interesting literature review on existing indicators and the methodological problems they raise for comparison... It is a perfect example of the contribution the JCPA makes to the field for theory and practice”.

The International Adjudication Committee included: Professors Ana Cecilia de Alba, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico; Karen Baehler, American University, Washington D.C., USA; Guillaume Fontaine, FLACSO, Ecuador; and Zhilin Liu, Tsinghua University, China.

Professor Francesco Pasetti of IBEI, Barcelona, receives the award certificate and monetary grant envelope on behalf of the authors, virtually from Barcelona, Spain.

ANNUAL JCPA BEST REVIEWER AWARD, VOL. 26

When: November 17, 2025

Where: JCPA and ICPA Society Institutional Council Meeting, Tsinghua University, Beijing

First granted this year, the JCPA Best Reviewer Award recognizes the significant contribution and excellence of peer review. The criteria include Eligibility, Timeliness, Quantitative Metrics, and Meaningful Qualitative Assessment and Feedback.

The Award recipients are: Professors Lu Liao, Assistant Professor, School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China, and Christa Scholtz, Associate Professor of Political Science, McGill University, Canada. We thank the awardees for their invaluable contributions to the JCPA and its standards.

OUR NEW WEBSITE IS LIVE!

ICPA Society and JCPA new website is active at this link. Visit our website to get in touch, follow our news and events, and much more!

NEW PUBLICATION: JCPA VOL 27:5-6, 2025

SPECIAL ISSUE TITLE: "Artificial Intelligence and Data-Driven Technology in the Public Policy Cycle: Comparative Applications, Opportunities, and Risks"

Publication Date: December 22, 2025

“Artificial Intelligence and Data-Driven Technology in the Public Policy Cycle: Comparative Applications, Opportunities, and Risks”

Jooho Lee and Yixin Dai [FREE ACCESS]

“A Comparative Case Study on the Relationship Between Technology-Enabled Business Innovations and Government Regulations Using Wilson’s Politics of Regulation Model in South Korea”

Wookjoon Sung and Jooho Lee [FREE ACCESS 24 Dec 2025 – 30 March 2026]

“AI Policy Models in China and the United States: A Multi-Level Comparative Analysis of Policy Convergence and Divergence”

Lin Zhu, Wilson Wong, Afred M. Wu & Minqiang Zhu [OPEN ACCESS]

“Policy Narratives’ Salience: A Comparative Analysis of Artificial Intelligence Policy Responsiveness to Public Attention in China and the United States”

Han Xiao, Wei Ge & Xinyue Shi

“Conceptualising Public Trust in High-Risk AI Policymaking: A Comparative Analysis of Three Asian Cities”

Devyani Pande, Shaleen Khanal &Araz Taeihagh [OPEN ACCESS]

“A Comparative Analysis of Data-Driven Monopolization: Different Pathways and Regulatory Implications”

Mingxi Zhang and Xun Wu

“The Dual Drivers of Inter-Local Collaboration: A Comparative Study of Technological and Institutional Factors in China’s Public Service Delivery”

Lingyi Zhou

Policy Innovation: 

“AI in a Comparative Perspective: Linking Policy Formulation and Implementation”

Ali A. Guenduez, Saskia Fuchs & Mehmet Akif Demircioglu [OPEN ACCESS]

“A Set-Theoretical Analysis of the Pathway(s) to Digital Innovation in Developing Democracies”

Diego Salazar Morales [OPEN ACCESS]

Book Reviews:

Mildred E. Warner, Natassia A. Bravo, and Duxixi (Ada), Bridging the Digital Divide in the US: Planning Innovative State and Local Approaches

Reviewer: Christopher Ali

Yifei Yan, Getting Schools to Work Better: Educational Accountability and Teacher Support in India and China

Reviewer: Kiflie Worku Angaw 

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