IRSPM Conference - Call for Abstract Submission

The next International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM) Conference will be taking place on 03 to 05 April 2023 in Budapest, Hungary. 

The IRSPM are inviting people to submit abstract proposals for the conference. The call for paper abstracts is open until Tuesday 01 November 2022 and if accepted, the paper submissions are not due in until March 2023.

The conference theme is: United or divided? Public value(s), Management and Governance in turbulent times

We would llike to invite our academic and policing colleagues to submit abstracts for the Centre's policing panel: Policing and Public Value(s) in Turbulent Times.

Focus of policing panel:

In policing, the meanings and perceptions of public value(s) are particularly dependent on the chosen perspective of individual and collective actors or communities within society. Consequently, the study of policing as a public service serves as a magnifying glass through which societal rifts and their repercussions on public service design and delivery can be analysed. In doing so, the panel aims to tackle core questions of different sources of public service authority and legitimacy, the meaning of social equity, and the creation or destruction of public value(s).

This panel addresses police and policing from a public management, public policy, governance and/or organisation studies perspective to examine the links between policing, public management and politics. The panel theme refers to changes and developments both inside and outside of police organisations. Inside police authorities, the theme may evoke questions of demographic and value changes of police officers, changing recruitment or training patterns and managing diversity of police forces. Going beyond internal management issues, policing in turbulent times is embedded in broader social and political issues, including rising tensions between “securitization” and civil rights and liberties, discriminatory practices of policing, protest policing, and fundamental questions of holding police authorities and officers to account. Therefore, we invite papers exploring questions such as: legitimacy, equity, power, authority, governance, organisational performance and accountability in policing; whether and how policing is value-creating or value-destroying; changing roles and expectations of police at points of societal change and stress (e.g., protest policing, social unrest, responding to natural disasters or public health crises); and comparative analysis of policing values, operations, or consequences in or across different locales. The panel invites theoretical and conceptual expositions as well as empirical contributions. Comparative perspectives across time, national borders or different cases of policing are particularly encouraged.

Submission of abstracts:

We welcome submissions in a range of formats. Submissions, based on a short description of no more than 500 words (including abstract) should be made through the IRSPM conference system. 

Standard papers: to be offered for presentation in the panel which will be ongoing through the conference.  All papers will be allocated a discussant, and in submitting a paper, each author indicates their willingness to be a discussant on another paper. 

Round table discussion This will involve a set of short presentations on a particular topic, with presentations from three or more different countries, to enable a cross-national perspective on policing.  In submitting a round table idea, please contact the panel convenors directly in the first instance. 

When submitting your abstract, please note that the conference will be organized as a ‘physical event only’ event. Therefore, please ensure that you are: a) committed to participate in person in Budapest and b) do not propose a paper presentation in hybrid or online modes.

For further details on how to submit an abstract please click here.