Fall Conference

#2026APPAM:
Fifty States, Fifty Systems:
State Policy Variations and Impacts

November 5 – 7  |  Marriott Copley Place  |  Boston, Mass.

The US federalist system of government assigns substantial authority to states to create and implement policies. At this time, as the federal government’s role is shrinking, the role of state policy is even more important.

Learn More About #2026APPAM

Since 2023

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The APPAM Fall Research Conference is a multidisciplinary annual research conference that attracts the highest quality research on a wide variety of important current and emerging policy and management issues.

The conference has become the preeminent venue for presenting and discussing 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 about 50 people to review submitted proposals and recommend sessions to include in the meetings. Program committee members span a wide variety of substantive areas, and the conference supports an equally wide range of areas. The conference includes panels, roundtables, workshops, symposia, and poster presentations, and is designed to encourage substantive interaction among participants.

APPAM has always included practitioners in the conference, and many non-academic researchers in public policy and management consider APPAM their primary professional meeting. APPAM consistently seeks increased conference participation from policymakers at all levels of government and other practitioners directly involved in the areas of emphasis in the annual research conference.

The Fall Research Conference also developed many special events and features, including receptions, a career and PhD program fair, 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. The conference program prefers to include material related to the theme.

Save the Date for Future Conferences

2027 Fall Research Conference
November 11 – 13, JW Marriott, Indianapolis, IN

2028 Fall Research Conference
November 9 – 11, Grand Hyatt & Marriott Metro Center, Washington, DC

2029 Fall Research Conference
November 8 – 10, 2029, Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Philadelphia, PA

​2030 Fall Research Conference
November 21 – 23, 2030, Washington Hilton, Washington, DC

2031 Fall Research Conference
November 13 – 15, 2031, Marriott Marquis Chicago, Chicago, IL

2032 Fall Research Conference
November 11 – 13, 2032, Washington Hilton, Washington, DC

Past Events

2016 / Washington, DC / November 3 – 5 / “The Role of Research in Making Government More Effective”

2015 / Miami, FL / November 12 – 14 / “The Golden Age of Evidence-Based Policy”

2014 / Albuquerque, NM / November 6 – 8 / “Global Challenges, New Perspectives”

2013 / Washington, DC / November 7 – 9 / “Power of the Past – Force for the Future”

2012 / Baltimore, MD / November 8 – 10 / “Policy Analysis and Public Management in an Age of Scarcity: The Challenges of Assessing Effectiveness and Efficiency”

2011 / Washington, DC / November 10 – 12 / “Seeking Solutions to Complex Policy & Management Problems”

2010 / Boston, MA / November 4-6 / “Making Fair & Effective Policy in Difficult Times”

2009 / Washington, DC / November 5-7 / “Evidenced Based Policy Making in the Post-Bush/Clinton Era”

2008 / Los Angeles, CA / November 6-8 / “The Next Decade – What Are the Big Policy Challenges?”

2007 / Washington, DC / November 8-10 / “What Else Shapes Public Policy Analysis and Management?”

2006 / Madison, WI / November 2-4 / “Tax and Spend: Designing, Implementing, Managing and Evaluating Effective Redistributional Policies”

2005 / Washington, DC / November 3-5 / “Understanding and Informing Policy Design”

2004 / Atlanta, GA / October 28-30 / “Creating and Using Evidence in Public Policy Analysis and Management”

2003 / Washington, DC / November 6-8 / “The ‘M’ in APPAM: Taking a Special Look at the Capacity of Government to Implement Public Policies”

2002 / Dallas, TX / November 7-9 / “Asking ‘What if?’ – Assessing the Public Policy and Management Implications of Social Science Research”

2001 / Washington, DC / November 1-3 / “Public Policy Analysis and Public Policy: Making the Connection”

2000 / Seattle, WA / November 2-4 / “Doing and Using Policy Analysis and Management Research”

1999 / Washington, DC / November 4-6 / “Public Policy Analysis and Management: Global and Comparative Perspectives”

1998 / New York, NY / October 29-31 / “APPAM at Twenty! Policy and Management-Methods, Problems, and Data”

1997 / Washington, DC / November 6-8 / “The Shifting Locus of Public Policy: Will Policy Analysis Follow Suit?”

1996 / Pittsburgh, PA / Oct. 31 – Nov. 2 / “The Disciplines of Public Policy? Newer Methods and Their Controversies”

1995 / Washington, DC / November 2-4 / “Thirty Years of Policy Analysis and Management: Taking Stock”

1994 / Chicago, IL / October 27-29 / “The Big Questions of Public Policy Analysis and Management”

1993 / Washington, DC / October 28-30 / 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

1991 / Bethesda, MD / October 24-26 / 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

1989 / Arlington, VA / November 2-4 / 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

1987 / Bethesda, MD / October 29-31 / 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

1985 / Washington, DC / October 24-26 / 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

1983 / Philadelphia, PA / October 20-22 / 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

1981 / Washington, DC / October 22-24 / 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

1979 / Chicago, IL / October 19 – 20 / APPAM’s Fall Research Conference did not have an official theme until 1994