Innovative Research. Effective Policymaking. Broad-Reaching Instruction.
Center for Policy Design and Governance
The Center for Policy Design and Governance integrates policy, political and computational sciences in research and instruction to help scientists, practitioners and public service leaders understand and address governance challenges. The center seeks to deepen understanding of how public policies are designed, what makes public policies effective, and how governments can support cross-sector and community engagement in the public policy process.
The center is home to the Policy Design Studio and supports multiple international research initiatives.
- The Policy Design Studio provides evidence-based training and analysis on policy design, the engagement of government and non-governmental stakeholders in policy formulation, and policy implementation.
- The Computational Institutional Science Lab is an international hub for developing and applying computational methods to study how societies are governed.
- The Institutional Grammar Research Initiative convenes scholars from around the world who study and practice institutional analysis.
- The center is also the institutional host to the Policy Studies Journal, the leading policy process field journal and the #4 journal in the field of public administration.
Policy Design Studio
The Policy Design Studio helps improve public policies and policymaking processes by offering practical training and clear analysis. We work with governments, nonprofits and future public service leaders to build skills in designing policies, putting them into action and involving the right people in the process. Our training sessions focus on real-world tools and strategies, while our technical analysis evaluates the effectiveness of policies and stakeholder engagement efforts.
Computational Institutional Science Lab
The lab hosts a variety of research activities to support the development of a new field of study called computational institutional science. Lab affiliates and members conduct research, host seminars and instructional programs, and author scholarly publications focused on the use of computational science methods to study how societies are governed. Founded in 2022, the CIS Lab is led by Saba Siddiki (Syracuse University) and Christopher Frantz (Norwegian University of Science and Technology).
Institutional Grammar Research Initiative
Established during at a workshop hosted by Syracuse University in 2018, and sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Institutional Grammar Research Initiative is a network of scholars from around the world with a common interest in the theoretical and methodological advancement of the Institutional Grammar, proposed by Sue Crawford and Elinor Ostrom (1995). IGRI affiliates are currently engaged in research that addresses one or more of the following themes:
- Computational text analysis with Institutional Grammar
- Evaluating institutional performance
- Using the Institutional Grammar to study simulated and real behavior
Center for Policy Design and Governance In Action
Research
Mar 24, 2026
Research
Sep 26, 2025
Research
Sep 8, 2025
School News
Aug 22, 2025