Honadle Article Lands Lead Space in Chicago Policy Review

Beth Honadle’s written work has some illustrious company this summer.

Honadle, Director of the Institute for Policy Research and a political science professor, wrote the lead article in Chicago Policy Review’s 10th anniversary issue, whose theme is “Research, Analysis, and Implementation: The Public Policy Continuum.”

Beth Honadle

Among other contributors to the issue are U.S. Senator John McCain; former Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, David Wilhelm; and Illinois State Senator Susan Garrett. Previous authors include U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, 2000 Nobel Prize recipient James J. Heckman, and U.S. Senator John Kerry.

The publication of Honadle’s work, solicited by the editors, was months in the making. Her article, “On Public Policy Analysis: Reflections from the Field,” explores similarities and differences between policy analysis in government and in academia.

“Last winter the editors of the Chicago Policy Review invited me to submit an original, unpublished work that explores issues of public concern. They wanted an article by late March, so I proposed to them a reflective essay based on observations and lessons from academia and government,” she said.

According to the April 17 acceptance letter from the Editor-in-Chief, Dominique Sasson, the submission pool for this edition of the journal consisted of “an unprecedented number of impressive submissions from students academics, and policy professionals.”

Dana Agmon McCarrick, articles editor, wrote Honadle a message in May, stating, “Also, just so you know, your article is the front article of the review, serving as an introduction to the idea of public policy and a reflection of an experienced policy analyst.”

The university, Honadle said, is very supportive of these types of efforts.

“According to the University’s mission statement, ‘UC strives to provide the highest quality learning environment, world-renowned scholarship, innovation and community service, and to serve as a place where freedom of intellectual interchange flourishes,’” she said.

“This article fits into that mission very well and is especially relevant to two goals of UC|21: place students in the center and grow our research excellence. The Chicago Policy Review is published by the graduate students of the Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago. The UC Institute for Public Policy Research’s mission is to be a leading academic organization that engages in public policy research that informs decision-making.”

Honadle has more outreach work ahead: She recently was elected to the Policy Council of The Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (www.appam.org), a nonprofit professional association “dedicated to improving public policy and management by fostering excellence in research, analysis, and education.”

Its activities include a multidisciplinary annual research conference which APPAM says is “focused on the highest quality research on a wide variety of important current and emerging policy and management issues and publishes a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary journal featuring the highest quality research on public policy and management.”

The APPAM Policy Council is the Association's board of directors, and is responsible for approving all strategic decisions of the Association.

Honadle will participate in two meetings annually, usually scheduled in close conjunction with the APPAM Institutional Representatives meeting.

This November, she will attend her first meeting as a member of the Policy Council in Madison, Wis.

“I have already been attending the APPAM conferences as UC’s representative since the Institute for Policy Research made the decision to join APPAM as an institutional member,” she said.

“For me as the director of IPR, the involvement in APPAM is one opportunity to advance the IPR's vision of being recognized as a national leader in public policy research. Having one of the two meetings each year in Washington DC is really helpful because it gives me a good opportunity to network with other public policy researchers and practitioners and visit with staff in the nation's capital on the same trip.”