The APPAM Fall Research Conference is a multi-disciplinary annual research conference that attracts the highest quality research on a wide variety of important current and emerging policy and management issues. The conference is comprised of panels, roundtables, workshops, symposia and poster presentations and is designed to encourage substantive interaction among participants. This year, the 2020 Fall Research Conference will be held in Washington DC on November 12-14 under the theme: Research Across the Policy Lifecycle: Formulation, Implementation, Evaluation and Back Again
The conference has become the preeminent venue for the presentation and discussion of applied public policy research, attracting over 1,500 attendees for 250+ sessions across three days of meetings in early November each year. Since 1985, the conference has been held in Washington, DC every other year and in other major U.S. cities when not in D.C.
Each year, the APPAM president-elect appoints a conference program committee of approximately 50 people to review the proposals submitted for the conference and recommend sessions to be included in the meetings. The program committee members span a wide variety of substantive areas, and an equally wide variety of areas are supported within the conference.
APPAM has always included practitioners within the conference, and many non-academic researchers in public policy and management consider APPAM to be their primary professional meeting. APPAM is always seeking increased conference participation from policy makers at all levels of government and other practitioners who are directly involved in the areas of emphasis within the annual research conference.
The Fall Research Conference also developed many special events and features, including receptions, a job interview service, symposia, book exhibits, poster sessions, the Annual Membership Meeting, and affiliate receptions. An APPAM conference is an intense experience, with many opportunities for professional networking and exposure to the latest research in the field.
Beginning in 1994, the APPAM president-elect has chosen a theme for the Fall Conference that influences the panel and paper proposals selected for inclusion in the meetings. There is a preference for including material related to the theme in the conference program.
Upcoming Fall Research Conference Dates:
- November 11-13, 2020, Washington, DC
- November 10-13, 2021, Austin, TX
Past Fall Research Conferences
Year - Location and Date - Theme
1979 / Chicago, IL / October 19 - 20 / APPAM's Fall Research Conference did not have an official theme until 1994
1980 / Boston, MA / October 23-25 / APPAM's Fall Research Conference did not have an official theme until 1994
1981 / Washington, DC / October 22-24 / APPAM's Fall Research Conference did not have an official theme until 1994
1982 / Minneapolis, MN / October 28-30 / APPAM's Fall Research Conference did not have an official theme until 1994
1983 / Philadelphia, PA / October 20-22 / APPAM's Fall Research Conference did not have an official theme until 1994
1984 / New Orleans, LA / October 18-20 / APPAM's Fall Research Conference did not have an official theme until 1994
1985 / Washington, DC / October 24-26 / APPAM's Fall Research Conference did not have an official theme until 1994
1986 / Austin, TX / Oct 30- Nov 1 / APPAM's Fall Research Conference did not have an official theme until 1994
1987 / Bethesda, MD / October 29-31 / APPAM's Fall Research Conference did not have an official theme until 1994
1988 / Seattle, WA / October 27-29 / APPAM's Fall Research Conference did not have an official theme until 1994
1989 / Arlington, VA / November 2-4 / APPAM's Fall Research Conference did not have an official theme until 1994
1990 / San Francisco, CA / October 18-20 / APPAM's Fall Research Conference did not have an official theme until 1994
1991 / Bethesda, MD / October 24-26 / APPAM's Fall Research Conference did not have an official theme until 1994
1992 / Denver, CO / October 29-31 / APPAM's Fall Research Conference did not have an official theme until 1994
1993 / Washington, DC / October 28-30 / APPAM's Fall Research Conference did not have an official theme until 1994
1994 / Chicago, IL / October 27-29 / "The Big Questions of Public Policy Analysis and Management"
1995 / Washington, DC / November 2-4 / "Thirty Years of Policy Analysis and Management: Taking Stock"
1996 / Pittsburgh, PA / Oct. 31 - Nov. 2 / "The Disciplines of Public Policy? Newer Methods and Their Controversies"
1997 / Washington, DC / November 6-8 / "The Shifting Locus of Public Policy: Will Policy Analysis Follow Suit?"
1998 / New York, NY / October 29-31 / "APPAM at Twenty! Policy and Management-Methods, Problems, and Data"
1999 / Washington, DC / November 4-6 / "Public Policy Analysis and Management: Global and Comparative Perspectives"
2000 / Seattle, WA / November 2-4 / "Doing and Using Policy Analysis and Management Research"
2001 / Washington, DC / November 1-3 / "Public Policy Analysis and Public Policy: Making the Connection"
2002 / Dallas, TX / November 7-9 / "Asking 'What if?' - Assessing the Public Policy and Management Implications of Social Science Research"
2003 / Washington, DC / November 6-8 / "The 'M' in APPAM: Taking a Special Look at the Capacity of Government to Implement Public Policies"
2004 / Atlanta, GA / October 28-30 / "Creating and Using Evidence in Public Policy Analysis and Management"
2005 / Washington, DC / November 3-5 / "Understanding and Informing Policy Design"
2006 / Madison, WI / November 2-4 / "Tax and Spend: Designing, Implementing, Managing and Evaluating Effective Redistributional Policies"
2007 / Washington, DC / November 8-10 / "What Else Shapes Public Policy Analysis and Management?"
2008 / Los Angeles, CA / November 6-8 / "The Next Decade - What Are the Big Policy Challenges?"
2009 / Washington, DC / November 5-7 / "Evidenced Based Policy Making in the Post-Bush/Clinton Era"
2010 / Boston, MA / November 4-6 / "Making Fair & Effective Policy in Difficult Times"
2011 / Washington, DC / November 10 - 12 / "Seeking Solutions to Complex Policy & Management Problems"
2012 / Baltimore, MD / November 8 - 10 / "Policy Analysis and Public Management in an Age of Scarcity: The Challenges of Assessing Effectiveness and Efficiency"
2013 / Washington, DC / November 7 - 9 / "Power of the Past - Force for the Future"
2014 / Albuquerque, NM / November 6 - 8 / "Global Challenges, New Perspectives"
2015 / Miami, FL / November 12 - 14 / "The Golden Age of Evidence-Based Policy"
2016 / Washington, DC / November 3 - 5 / "The Role of Research in Making Government More Effective"
2018 / Washington, DC / November 8 - 10 / "Evidence for Action: Encouraging Innovation and Improvement"
2019 / Denver, CO / November 7 - 9 / "Rising to the Challenge: Engaging Diverse Perspectives on Issues and Evidence"