The Policy Cycle: Still spinning while the world is turning?

The Policy Cycle is an established heuristic in Public Policy Analysis. As often discussed, one of its merits is the analytical value added in discriminating distinct theoretical stages of an overly complex process, which not least allows to apply causal theory to the different stages. At the same time, as the distinct analytical stages are theoretical, their identification and application in empirical analysis can be problematic. The panel invites innovations in the theoretical and empirical application of the policy cycle. We are both interested in conceptual and theoretical advances, for example on the distinction between different stages and causal explanations that make use of the heuristic, and pioneering empirical studies, such as the application of the heuristic beyond the classic modern state structure and how policy practitioners use the insights or the policy cycle in different regional contexts.