Workshop on Policy Process Research

The Workshop on Policy Process Research (WOPPR) brings together faculty, students, and visiting scholars to explore questions about how public policies are designed evolve, and how people engage in policy processes and shape policy outcomes. We employ diverse theoretical lenses and methodological approaches for examining challenging public policy questions, and support engaged scholarship with policy practitioners.  The WOPPR offers several seminars each year to build our community, share ideas, and train the next generation of policy scholars.

Professors Chris Weible and Tanya Heikkila serve as the WOPPR co-directors, and welcome inquiries from prospective students, visiting scholars, and practitioners.

Current research

Assessing the Range and Nature of Concord and Conflict in Energy Infrastructure Sitings

Christopher M. Weible and Tanya Heikkila Kyu-Dong Park, Sharon Smolinski, Jill Yordy and Jongeun You

A Comparative Diagnosis of Policy Conflicts: Examining Unconventional Oil and Gas Development across the US

Professors Tanya Heikkila and Christopher Weible, University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs Jennifer Kagan and Jill Yordy

Past research and sample publications

  • National-level Politics of Hydraulic Fracturing in the U.S., funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Sample publications include:
    • Policy Debates on Hydraulic Fracturing: Comparing Coalition Politics in North America and Europe. 2016. C. M. Weible, T. Heikkila, K. Ingold, and M. Fischer eds. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Olofsson, K., T. Heikkila and C. M. Weible. 2016. “A Summary Report of a 2016 Survey of the Politics of Oil and Gas Development using Hydraulic Fracturing in the United States.” Published November 30, 2106 by the School of Public Affairs University of Colorado Denver.
  • Social science contributions to the Air Water Gas Sustainability Research Network, funded by the National Science Foundation. Sample publications include:
    • Heikkila, T. and C.M. Weible.  2017. “Unpacking the intensity of policy conflict: a study of Colorado’s oil and gas subsystem.” Policy Sciences. 50(2): 179-193.
    • Olofsson, K., T. Heikkila and C. M. Weible. 2017. “A Summary Report of a 2017 Survey of the Politics of Oil and Gas Development using Hydraulic Fracturing in Colorado.” Published July 26, 2017 by the School of Public Affairs University of Colorado Denver.
  • The Politics of Shale Gas Development in the U.S., funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Sample publications include:
    • Weible, C. and T. Heikkila. 2015. “Fracking Resolution in New York – Escalation of Fracking Politics across the Nation.” The Conversation, Dec. 22nd. 
    • Blair, B., C. Weible, T. Heikkila, and D. Evensen. 2016.“Comparing Human and Automated Coding of News Articles on Hydraulic Fracturing in New York and Pennsylvania.” Society & Natural Resources.  Research Note. 29(7): 880-884.

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