Policy Advisory Systems: Governance, Coordination, and Capacity in Contemporary Policymaking

Over the past two decades, research on policy advisory systems (PAS) has expanded significantly, reflecting growing interest in how governments access, organize, and manage policy-relevant knowledge. PAS encompass heterogeneous assemblages of public sector advisers, ministerial units, think tanks, consultancies, international organizations, academic experts, and civil society actors, whose roles and influence vary across political systems, governance regimes, and policy domains. While early scholarship focused on individual advisers and their proximity to political decision-makers, more recent work has shifted toward a systemic perspective, examining the configuration, dynamics, and evolution of advisory systems as a whole.Despite these advances, key gaps remain. First, the governance of PAS—how governments intentionally steer, coordinate, and regulate advisory capacity—remains unevenly theorized and empirically explored. Second, only a limited number of studies have investigated how PAS function within specific policy sectors, how they shape sectoral dynamics, and how they adapt to complex policy environments. Third, limited attention has been paid to how PAS manage competing sources of expertise, balance political responsiveness with analytical rigor, and cope with increasing uncertainty, complexity, and politicization. Comparative insights across regions and governance contexts, including differences between the Global North and Global South, remain fragmented. Moreover, crucial sociopolitical challenges such as the rise of nationalism, climate change, post-sovereignty dynamics, planetary boundaries, neocolonialism, and the societal impact of artificial intelligence are often missing in the analysis of advisory systems, creating a gap between PAS research and real-world governance challenges.This Research Topic aims to advance a governance-oriented and systemic understanding of PAS while explicitly connecting advisory practices to pressing contemporary issues. It seeks to explore how advisory arrangements are structured, coordinated, and managed, how they evolve over time, and how they influence policy capacity and decision-making quality. Contributions are expected to go beyond descriptive or theoretical analyses to address practical implications for policymaking while illuminating the political, institutional, epistemic, and societal dynamics shaping policy advice.We welcome submissions on, but not limited to:• Governance and coordination mechanisms within policy advisory systems• Configuration, management, and evolution of advisory capacity across governments• Sectoral dynamics and case studies in areas such as health, education, energy, climate policy, digital governance, and technology governance (e.g., AI)• Systemic interactions within PAS: complementarities, competition, and trade-offs among advisory actors• Institutional design, professionalization, and policy leverage points in PAS• Political, administrative, and societal dynamics shaping the use and legitimacy of policy advice• Comparative perspectives across regions and governance regimes (Global North vs. Global South)• Roles of external advisers, think tanks, consultants, and international organizations in policymaking• Challenges of evidence use, expertise politicization, and advisory legitimacy in the context of major global issues• Integration of digitalization, AI, and new analytical tools in policy advisory practices• Monitoring, evaluation, and learning mechanisms in the governance of policy advice• Communication, dissemination, and stakeholder engagement strategies for effective policy advice Topic editors: Maria Asensio, David Ferraz, Elena Maria Garcia Guereta Rodriguez Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/78212/policy-advisory-systems-governance-coordination-and-capacity-in-contemporary-policymaking