The Annual Conference of the FPSA | Policy-making for the long-term

The Annual Conference of the Finnish Political Science Association was organized at the University of Turku on 8.–9. March 2018.

Alan M. Jacobs, Associate Professor of the University of British Columbia, delivered the keynote lecture on ”Policy-Making for the Long-Term. Puzzles and Agendas”. Jacobs’s visit was sponsored by the PALO project.

Presentation (pdf)
Lecture (video)

Alan M. Jacobs (University of British Columbia) is an Associate Professor of Political Science specializing in the comparative political economy of advanced industrialized democracies, the politics of public policy, political behavior, and qualitative and mixed methodology.

Jacobs’ first book, Governing for the Long Term: Democracy and the Politics of Investment (Cambridge, 2011, co-winner of the APSA award for the Best Book in Comparative Politics; winner of the APSA award for the Best Book Developing or Applying Qualitative Methods; and winner of the IPSA prize for the Best Book in Comparative Policy and Administration), examined how democratic governments manage long-term policy issues. This book and related articles have sought to understand the conditions under which elected governments are willing to impose short-term costs on their constituents in order to invest in long-term social benefits. Jacobs’ work in this area has sought to identify the distinctive features of the politics of intertemporal choice as compared to the more commonly analyzed politics of redistribution. Jacobs’ current projects focus on the politics of inequality, public attitudes toward policy tradeoffs and public-goods investment, and process-tracing and mixed-methods inquiry.

More information: http://politiikkapaivat.utu.fi/finnish-political-science-2018/