Polihot

PSJ — 2026-04-17 Original How Can Researchers Have Greater Policy Impact? Kizzy Gandy Abstract ABSTRACT Researchers seeking public policy impact lack consistent, coherent, and practical definitions, strategies, and measurement approaches. This article addresses these gaps through four questions using literature, practitioner expertise, and real‐world examples. What does it mean to have policy impact? Three levels of impact are defined: contributing to new policy conversations; shaping policy narrative direction; and influencing decisions that create, reform, or stop policies. How does research influence policy? Research and policy interact bi‐directionally and iteratively. Strategies to maximize the supply, demand, and co‐production of research in policymaking are operationalized for both individual researchers and research organizations. How can the impact of research on policy be evaluated? Contribution analysis is the most appropriate approach because it goes beyond simple correlations—revealing how and why evidence was used in policymaking, guiding future influencing strategies. How can researchers achieve greater policy impact? While each researcher and research organization should develop their own theory of change to inform an effective and testable impact strategy for their operating context, four generalizable principles are presented with a case study demonstration.

PAR — 2026-04-17 Original Green Budgeting in South Korea: Issue Ownership and Ministerial Leadership Minjung Kim, Rosa Minhyo Cho Abstract ABSTRACT As climate governance gains urgency, green budgeting has emerged as a vital policy tool to align fiscal systems with environmental goals. Yet, institutional and leadership factors shaping its success remain underexplored. This study examines how issue ownership and ministerial leadership jointly influence green budgeting outcomes in South Korea. Using fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis of 13 central government bodies implementing green budgeting in 2023, we identify four pathways to high performance. Institutionalized long‐term environmental planning emerges as a necessary condition. Two key mechanisms are identified: alignment between ministerial leadership and issue ownership, and politically experienced ministers who leverage institutional and external resources despite weak personal environmental commitment. These findings suggest that effective green budgeting depends not only on leadership but also on embedded institutional arrangements. Our study contributes to the public management literature by offering a dynamic understanding of issue ownership and expanding the scope of ministerial leadership in environmental governance.

JOP — 2026-04-17 Original Equal in Private, Unequal in Public? Coeducation and Sexism in the Soviet Union Marco Giani, Krakowski Krzysztof Abstract （原文未提供摘要） 中文 私下平等，公开不平等？苏联的男女同校教育与性别歧视 Marco Giani, Krakowski Krzysztof

JOP — pp. 000-000 2026-04-17 Original Do Voters Value Relief over Preparedness? Evidence from Disaster Policies in Malawi Felix Hartmann Abstract Growing evidence suggests that voters reward politicians for spending on disaster relief but not disaster preparedness. Yet, we know little about the mechanisms that underpin this pattern. Is it because voters generally value relief over preparedness? Or is it because voters expect preparedness policies to be less effective compared to relief policies? I test both mechanisms using a conjoint experiment in rural Malawi in which participants choose between two hypothetical candidates randomly varying attributes about their preparedness and relief policies. I find that respondents reward relief efforts over preparedness efforts, but they value effective preparedness similarly to effective relief. Additionally, respondents are more likely to reward preparedness efforts if they repeatedly observe that they are effective in mitigating disaster damages. Taken together, the evidence suggests that voters have pessimistic expectations about the effectiveness of preparedness policies but would reward preparedness similarly to relief if it is known to be effective.

GOV 39/3 2026-04-16 Original The Paradox in Citizen's Views Toward Bureaucracy: Exploring Bureauphobia in More Depth Zeinab Molavi, Hassan Danaeefard, Ali Hamidizadeh Abstract ABSTRACT This study investigates how Iranian citizens develop bureauphobia. The process was examined from the perspectives of 59 citizens using the grounded theory method. Data were collected through semi‐structured interviews, and Corbin and Strauss's constant comparison method was employed for data analysis. In the grounded process model, the core category was the cognitive dissonance, and other categories were: causal conditions—observational learning, media exaggeration, citizens' overgeneralization bias, and citizens' preexisting mental schema; intervening factors—economic conditions and the overall community atmosphere; contextual factors—the self‐defensive role of negative attitude, the value‐laden negative attitude, and adherence to negative attitude; strategies—self‐persuasion and selective avoidance; and consequences —cognitive and behavioral effects. The findings indicate that the negative image of the government is more psychological and less a result of citizens' evaluation of the actual performance of public bureaucracy. This study has theoretical and practical implications for bureaucracy theorists, policymakers, and government managers.

PAR 86/5 pp. 1265-1280 2026-04-16 Original Managing Value Conflicts Through Formal and Informal Institutions: A Longitudinal Case Study in Local Government Service Reform Jin Hong Kim

PMR — pp. 1-25 2026-04-16 Original Framing AI in public innovation: the engagement-manipulation nexus Adedapo Adebajo, Ngozi Okpara, Aisha Kolawole Abstract AI integration into public service innovation creates a paradox: promising enhanced engagement while risking manipulation. This paper develops the Engagement-Manipulation Nexus, a conceptual framework using Framing Theory to analyse this tension. We adapt Framing Theory to the algorithmic era, arguing AI is both an object to be framed and an agent disseminating frames. AI innovation trajectories are forged through communicative struggles among actors deploying competing frames. This paper contributes a novel theoretical framework, theorizes public innovation as communicatively constructed, and provides a diagnostic tool for practitioners. Critical frame awareness is essential for steering AI towards public value and democratic governance.

PAR — 2026-04-16 Original Do Performance Budgeting Reforms Reduce Corruption? Evidence From a Quasi‐Experimental Study

CQ 266 pp. 418-434 2026-04-15 Original Solving Agency Problems in Chinese Universities: Academics in the Shadow of the Party’s Declared Leadership

PMR — pp. 1-25 2026-04-15 Original Shaping watershed collaboration: how government attention transforms informal interaction into formal cooperation Jing Cui, Yichen Tang Abstract This study adopts a public value perspective to examine how government attention allocation influences watershed collaboration. Based on the panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2020 to 2024, we employed negative binomial regression. Results show that attention allocation significantly enhances both formal and informal collaboration, with informal collaboration mediating this relationship. The expected positive moderating effect of digital governance is not consistently supported. Furthermore, by distinguishing between formal and informal collaboration, this study deepens the understanding of the dynamic processes within the collaboration continuum. It provides evidence from Chinese river basins for understanding cross-jurisdictional collaboration.