Polihot

PSJ — 2026-03-30 Original Coalition Breakdown and Subsystem Exit Charlie F. Thompson Abstract ABSTRACT Why actors choose to work together (or not) to advance policy has been the central area of inquiry within the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF). Existing research has mainly emphasized the pathway towards coalition formation and evolution, underscoring the stable patterns of allies and opponents observable in policy processes over a decade or so. Why coalitions fracture, splinter or dissolve has seldom been theoretically articulated or empirically investigated, which leaves policy process research in the dark on the unstable factors of coalition evolution. This perspectives stresses three modes of coalition breakdown—the process by which an established advocacy coalition (i) fractures—a mode of enhanced internal conflict producing differentiated coordination patterns, (ii) splinters into competing coalitions—where previous allies stop working together entirely, and (iii) dissolves—the subsystem exit of an existing coalition. Focusing on internal threats, but also the external shocks provided by democratic backsliding, the article advances foundational theory on why coalitions fissure, become dormant and collapse—policy dynamics that are expected to continue to persist in an increasingly polarized society.

PMR — pp. 1-36 2026-03-30 Original Citizens’ engagement in coproduction through digital platforms: a survey experiment study in China Ninghui Li, Yanwei Li Abstract This study examines how administrative burden and transparency affect citizens’ willingness to engage in coproduction via digital platforms. In a preregistered vignette experiment, we find that lower administrative burden significantly increases participation, while digital transparency independently promotes engagement. Their interaction is insignificant, suggesting that the two factors operate through separate rather than synergistic mechanisms. These findings advance research on administrative burden, transparency, and digital governance by clarifying how platform design can encourage citizens’ coproduction.

PSJ — 2026-03-29 Original Designing Integrated Policies for the Twin Transition: Challenges and Tradeoffs Martino Maggetti Abstract ABSTRACT Democratic governance faces the intertwined imperatives of managing the transformative risks and opportunities of digitalization, particularly stemming from artificial intelligence (AI), while achieving environmental sustainability within planetary boundaries. Policymakers worldwide, particularly those involved in the European Union's “twin transition” agenda, often depict these transformations as mutually reinforcing; nonetheless, complementarity cannot be assumed: for instance, digitalization's energy demands threaten climate targets, and, respectively, sustainability goals constrain the scope and direction of technological innovation. To contribute to this discussion, this article examines integrated policy approaches that address both transitions simultaneously. In addition to typical policy integration hurdles about coherence and consistency, three macrochallenges require consideration when designing integrated policies for the twin transition: (1) the misalignment of temporal dynamics between fast‐moving technological change and long‐term environmental crises; (2) the discrepancy in scientific knowledge, consisting of high uncertainty about AI regulation versus a strong consensus in climate science; and (3) the ambivalent nature of transitions, capable of strengthening or undermining democracy in opposite directions. This contribution discusses these challenges, points to existing tradeoffs, and outlines a research agenda. In doing so, it advances policy integration as a means of societal transformation and provides a foundation to connect it with transition policies more systematically.

GOV 39/2 2026-03-28 Original Tracing the Trends of Governance in Governance From 1988 to 2023: Achievements and Future Prospects Kyungdong Kim, Min Han Kim, Brainard Guy Peters

PSJ — 2026-03-28 Original Resource Substitution: Local Governments' Issue Attention and Policy Reinvention Yingxin Zhang, Yixue Yao, Kaifeng Yang Abstract ABSTRACT Research on policy reinvention, where a government modifies rather than replicates policy innovations introduced by other governments, has progressed significantly, but how it is influenced by the government's issue attention has not been thoroughly examined. This study introduces a resource substitution framework, in which issue attention serves as a type of organizational resource that not only promotes policy reinvention directly but also compensates for deficiencies in systematic resources. Focusing on the organizational structuring policy regarding public data governance in Chinese cities from 2015 to 2023, we employ a directed dyadic‐based Heckman sample selection model with exclusion restrictions to test the hypotheses. The results demonstrate that issue attention significantly promotes policy reinvention, particularly in resource‐constrained settings, where it acts as a functional substitute for systemic resources. These findings contribute to a broader understanding of issue attention and clarify the conditions under which it drives policy reinvention.

GOV 39/2 2026-03-26 Original Responsive to What? Explaining the Information Quality of Public Comments on Bureaucratic Policymaking Using a Text‐as‐Data Approach

CQ 265 pp. 201-217 2026-03-26 Original Multilevel Diaspora Governance: A Case Study of a New Qiaoxiang County in China Na Ren, Sitong Long Abstract Abstract Since China’s open-door policy and “going-out” strategy gained momentum in the 21st century, several new qiaoxiang 侨乡 (“hometowns” of overseas Chinese) have emerged. The launch of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013 has further increased Chinese transnational mobility and the interactions between overseas Chinese communities and their places of origin. This study takes Shaodong city in Hunan province as a case study to explain the driving forces behind the formation of a newly emerging qiaoxiang from political and socio-economic perspectives. It proposes that multilayered transnational network governance is a significant model for qiaoxiang in diaspora engagement. Using a rescaling approach, this study argues that diaspora governance relies not only on the primordial ties of locality, kinship and ethnicity that new emigrants maintain with their hometowns but is also dynamically shaped by pluralized qiaoxiang governmental networks at various levels, including provincial, municipal and county. These networks are constructed by the diaspora through both vertical and horizontal structures. Theoretically, this study transcends the traditional paradigm of centralized and singular diaspora governance at national or subnational levels, contributing to the understanding of the multilevel structures of diaspora governance from decentralized and pluralized perspectives.

PMR — pp. 1-33 2026-03-26 Original From vicious to virtuous paradox cycles in public organizations: the role of trust Tina Øllgaard Bentzen, Sofie Loklindt Christensen, Silas Blomqvist Johansen

CQ 266 pp. 470-480 2026-03-26 Original China’s Internal Security Spending: An Assessment of New Data Sheena Chestnut Greitens Abstract Abstract Internal security has been a governance priority under Xi Jinping. How does China’s budget reflect this prioritization? This research report presents updated data on China’s internal security spending, 1992–2022, revealing a mix of continuity and change. Domestic security expenditure continues to rise, more than doubling from 2012 to 2022, but has risen mostly in proportion to the People’s Republic of China’s overall expenditure. The balance between central and local expenditure has shifted further towards local spending, which, in the context of rising local fiscal constraint, may increase pressure on local public security bureaus. The Ministry of Public Security continues to receive the largest share of domestic security spending, while the proportion of internal security spending allocated to the People’s Armed Police (PAP) has decreased, probably reflecting the reorganization of the PAP in 2017–2018. Spending per capita and relative to GDP continues to be higher in locations that are politically sensitive, including Beijing, Tibet and Xinjiang.

AJPS — 2026-03-25 Original What is (de)politicization and what is wrong with it? Dimitrios Halikias Abstract Abstract This article attempts to clarify the meaning of (de)politicization. Politicization sometimes refers to the inappropriate intrusion of partisan loyalties in nonpolitical social domains ( affective politicization ). Politicization can also constitute an ideal of civic agency and energy ( contestatory politicization ). In other contexts, politicization is meant as a kind of institutional corruption, in which government decisions are made for the sake of sectional advantage ( patrimonial politicization ). It can also refer to the imposition of controversial values judgments by ostensibly neutral institutions like the courts and bureaucracy ( values politicization ). These concepts raise divergent normative considerations of varying weightiness. This article motivates the potency of a fifth concept of politicization, which centers on the category of authoritative rule ( archic politicization ). It offers an ideal–typical contrast between political rule and depoliticized power, and it treats the distinct justifications for and objections to the substitution of depoliticized, impersonal reason for authoritative, political will.