Review article
PUBLIC POLICY IN THE HISTORY OF THE JOURNAL POLITIČKA MISAO (1964-2013): HOW DO WE LOOK IN THE MIRROR OF THE SUBDISCIPLINE?
Krešimir Petković
orcid.org/0000-0003-3319-1838
; Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The article presents the history of public policy, understood as one of political
science subfields, as it has manifested itself in the journal Politička misao,
in the period from 1964 to 2013. On the basis of analyzed texts on the subject
of public policy, the author constructs three periods of the history of the
subdiscipline in the journal. The first period can be labeled the prehistory of
the subdiscipline, when public policies were relatively rarely researched and
without distinctive metavocabulary which later defined that area of research.
The constitution of the subdiscipline and (post)war calm, which can partially
be attributed to “natural” domination of other research interests in transitional
restructuring of political order, are placed in the second period of the development
of the discipline (2000-2013). The last period (2000-2013) is characterized
by further development of the subdiscipline, proliferation of research
themes, theoretical approaches and researched policy areas. However, the author
contends that it is also marked by the lack of consolidation. Besides discussing
various methodological caveats that come as necessary in the task of
writing a “Whig” history of the subdiscipline, the article also tackles its future:
in concluding normative projections, it surges out of the text into the social
and political context of policy studies and analysis in Croatia.
Keywords
Public Policy; Political Science; Politička misao; History of the Subdiscipline; Three Phases
Hrčak ID:
119518
URI
Publication date:
6.4.2014.
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