Governance (journal)

Governance (journal)
Title	Governance
Discipline	Political science; Public administration
Abbreviation	Gov.
Publisher	Wiley-Blackwell for the Political Studies Association
Country	United Kingdom
Frequency	Quarterly
History	1988–present
Impact	4.1
Impact-year	2023
Issn	0952-1895
Eissn	1468-0491

Governance (journal) is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering studies in comparative politics, public administration, policy analysis, and institutional design. It publishes research articles, review essays, and special issues that engage with scholarship from Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Oxford, London School of Economics, and other major institutions. The journal is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Political Studies Association and is widely read alongside titles such as American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, Comparative Political Studies, and Public Administration Review.

History

Governance was established in 1988 amid debates involving scholars from Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University, Columbia University, and University of Chicago about the empirical turn in political science. Early editorial leadership drew on networks linked to Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, London School of Economics, Sciences Po, and Australian National University. Over the 1990s and 2000s the journal featured symposia responding to events such as the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Maastricht Treaty, North Atlantic Treaty Organization enlargement, and the Asian Financial Crisis, reflecting transatlantic and comparative concerns. Governance has evolved editorially in tandem with developments at World Bank, International Monetary Fund, United Nations, European Commission, and regional bodies like African Union and Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Scope and Editorial Focus

The journal foregrounds research on institutions and policy processes with contributors from University of Michigan, University of California, Los Angeles, Duke University, University of Toronto, and University of Cambridge. Articles often engage with methodological debates tied to scholars affiliated with Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, Nuffield College, Oxford, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, and Tsinghua University. Governance emphasizes comparative analysis, institutional change, regulatory reform, and governance networks, drawing on case studies from United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, and Japan.

Abstracting and Indexing

Governance is indexed in major services such as Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCOhost, ProQuest, and JSTOR. It is listed in disciplinary bibliographies maintained by American Political Science Association, Royal Institute of International Affairs, and data repositories associated with ICPSR. Inclusion in citation databases alongside Nature, Science, and leading social science journals supports visibility in cross-disciplinary searches conducted by researchers at Columbia University, New York University, University of Edinburgh, and National University of Singapore.

Impact and Reception

Governance is routinely cited in literature reviews and policy reports produced by think tanks such as Brookings Institution, Chatham House, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and RAND Corporation. Its impact factor places it among elite journals read by faculty at Johns Hopkins University, Cornell University, Brown University, and Georgetown University. High-profile articles have influenced debates in contexts involving the European Union, Federal Reserve System, Constitutional Court of South Africa, Supreme Court of the United States, and national reform agendas in Chile and Sweden.

Editorial Board and Peer Review

The editorial board comprises scholars affiliated with institutions like Yale University, Princeton University, University of Oxford, University of California, Berkeley, London School of Economics, Sciences Po, and Australian National University. Governance operates a double-blind peer-review process consistent with standards advocated by professional associations including the American Political Science Association and the Political Studies Association. Reviewers are drawn internationally from networks connected to European University Institute, University of British Columbia, University of Tokyo, and Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Notable Articles and Special Issues

Governance has published influential articles addressing topics related to federalism, decentralization, regulatory capture, and networked policy-making by scholars associated with Harvard Kennedy School, Blavatnik School of Government, Kennedy School, Brookings Institution, and Centre for European Policy Studies. Special issues have focused on subjects tied to the Great Recession, the Global Financial Crisis of 2008–2009, climate governance linked to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, digital governance and surveillance involving European Court of Justice, and pandemic governance connected to World Health Organization deliberations.

Publication and Access Model

Governance is published quarterly by Wiley-Blackwell for the Political Studies Association and is available in print and electronic formats via platforms used by Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and commercial aggregators such as EBSCO and ProQuest. The journal offers hybrid open-access options consistent with mandates from funders like the Wellcome Trust, European Research Council, National Science Foundation, and UK Research and Innovation; subscription access remains common among university libraries at University of Michigan, University of Sydney, McGill University, and King's College London.

Category:Political science journals Category:Academic journals established in 1988