The subfield
The subfield of public policy and administration comprises two core areas at the local, national and regional as well as the international level of governance. The first focuses on public policy: how actors and institutions shape the formulation of public policy through various processes, the substance of different policy areas, and how policies are implemented. Hence, the subfield covers all stages in the development of public policy: from the identification of problems and the placement of new issues on the agenda, through the design and examination of policy proposals, public debate and political decision-making, to implementation and the eventual effects of the policies.
The second core area is concerned with public administration, with particular emphasis on how the public sector and bureaucratic institutions operate in practice across different levels of governance. The relationship between politics and administration, and the interaction between civil society, experts, politicians, and bureaucrats are recurring themes in this field. In addition, this core area includes public management policy, administrative reforms, and organizational studies.
Teaching
The subfield group’s members teach across all political science discipline programmes in the department — at bachelor’s, master’s and PhD levels. They also contribute to the cross-disciplinary bachelor's programmes in Public Administration and Management (OADM) and Climate, environment and humans, as well as to the cross-disciplinary master’s program in Organization, leadership and work (OLA). All the political science programmes allow students to pursue specialization in the group’s subject areas. The members of the group are particularly relevant as supervisors for master's theses and PhD theses with topics concerning public policy and administration.
Research
Public policy and administration comprise several distinct research fields within political science, with close ties to organization studies, sociology, political economy, and research on democracy and political regimes. The members’ research activities take place primarily in the department’s project groups and research groups, as well as in affiliated research centres.
Research group
Collaboration
In teaching—particularly in the supervision of bachelor's and master's theses—in public policy and administration, researchers from other relevant research institutions in the Oslo area also contribute, such as the ARENA Centre for European Studies, the Institute for Social Research ISF, and the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research NIBR. Students are also offered scholarships and writing residencies at some of these institutions.
