Michael Howlett

26.1k total citations · 11 hit papers
372 papers, 15.8k citations indexed

About

Michael Howlett is a scholar working on Political Science and International Relations, Public Administration and Global and Planetary Change. According to data from OpenAlex, Michael Howlett has authored 372 papers receiving a total of 15.8k indexed citations (citations by other indexed papers that have themselves been cited), including 195 papers in Political Science and International Relations, 118 papers in Public Administration and 64 papers in Global and Planetary Change. Recurrent topics in Michael Howlett's work include Policy Transfer and Learning (151 papers), Public Policy and Administration Research (118 papers) and Social Policy and Reform Studies (60 papers). Michael Howlett is often cited by papers focused on Policy Transfer and Learning (151 papers), Public Policy and Administration Research (118 papers) and Social Policy and Reform Studies (60 papers). Michael Howlett collaborates with scholars based in Canada, Singapore and United States. Michael Howlett's co-authors include M. Ramesh, Jeremy Rayner, Giliberto Capano, Colin J. Bennett, Benjamin Cashore, Florian Kern, Xun Wu, Ishani Mukherjee, Adam Wellstead and Jonathan Craft and has published in prestigious journals such as SHILAP Revista de lepidopterología, American Journal of Public Health and Research Policy.

In The Last Decade

Michael Howlett

353 papers receiving 14.6k citations

Hit Papers

The lessons of learning: Reconciling theories of policy l... 1992 2026 2003 2014 1992 2007 2009 2015 2020 200 400 600
What are hit papers?

Hit papers significantly outperform the citation benchmark for their cohort. A paper qualifies if it has ≥500 total citations, achieves ≥1.5× the top-1% citation threshold for papers in the same subfield and year (this is the minimum needed to enter the top 1%, not the average within it), or reaches the top citation threshold in at least one of its specific research topics.

  1. The lessons of learning: Reconciling theories of policy learning and policy change
    1992 740 citations Michael Howlett et al. Policy Sciences profile →
  2. Design Principles for Policy Mixes: Cohesion and Coherence in ‘New Governance Arrangements’
    2007 438 citations Michael Howlett, Jeremy Rayner Policy and Society profile →
  3. Governance modes, policy regimes and operational plans: A multi-level nested model of policy instrument choice and policy design
    2009 416 citations Michael Howlett Policy Sciences profile →
  4. Policy capacity: A conceptual framework for understanding policy competences and capabilities
    2015 386 citations M. Ramesh, Michael Howlett et al. Policy and Society profile →
  5. Mobilizing Policy (In)Capacity to Fight COVID-19: Understanding Variations in State Responses
    2020 368 citations Giliberto Capano, Michael Howlett et al. Policy and Society profile →
  6. Policy analytical capacity and evidence‐based policy‐making: Lessons from Canada
    2009 338 citations Michael Howlett Canadian Public Administration profile →
  7. The Dependent Variable Problem in the Study of Policy Change: Understanding Policy Change as a Methodological Problem
    2009 297 citations Michael Howlett et al. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis Research and Practice profile →
  8. Policy mixes for sustainability transitions: New approaches and insights through bridging innovation and policy studies
    2019 259 citations Florian Kern, Karoline S. Rogge et al. Research Policy profile →
  9. The Knowns and Unknowns of Policy Instrument Analysis: Policy Tools and the Current Research Agenda on Policy Mixes
    2020 242 citations Giliberto Capano, Michael Howlett profile →
  10. Patching vs Packaging in Policy Formulation: Assessing Policy Portfolio Design
    2013 228 citations Michael Howlett, Jeremy Rayner Politics and Governance profile →
  11. The Role and Impact of the Multiple-Streams Approach in Comparative Policy Analysis
    2016 166 citations Daniel Béland, Michael Howlett Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis Research and Practice profile →

Peers — A (Enhanced Table)

Peers by citation overlap · career bar shows stage (early→late) cites · hero ref

Name h Career Trend Papers Cites
Michael Howlett Canada 66 7.0k 3.5k 3.4k 3.2k 2.6k 372 15.8k
Paul Sabatier United States 42 6.6k 0.9× 3.5k 1.0× 3.2k 0.9× 2.8k 0.9× 1.5k 0.6× 95 13.8k
B. Guy Peters United States 55 6.2k 0.9× 3.4k 1.0× 4.1k 1.2× 1.2k 0.4× 1.5k 0.6× 247 12.8k
James L. Perry United States 41 5.1k 0.7× 5.7k 1.6× 6.1k 1.8× 826 0.3× 1.8k 0.7× 154 18.0k
John S. Dryzek Australia 54 5.1k 0.7× 5.7k 1.6× 1.3k 0.4× 2.7k 0.8× 1.2k 0.4× 168 14.0k
Erik‐Hans Klijn Netherlands 47 3.0k 0.4× 3.0k 0.9× 3.6k 1.1× 993 0.3× 883 0.3× 141 10.1k
Christopher Ansell United States 34 2.7k 0.4× 3.5k 1.0× 2.4k 0.7× 1.2k 0.4× 860 0.3× 96 9.9k
John W. Kingdon United States 10 7.3k 1.0× 4.0k 1.1× 2.2k 0.7× 1.4k 0.4× 1.9k 0.7× 13 14.7k
R. A. W. Rhodes United Kingdom 42 5.9k 0.8× 3.6k 1.0× 4.0k 1.2× 800 0.2× 760 0.3× 171 11.8k
Aaron Wíldavsky United States 49 4.6k 0.7× 5.5k 1.5× 1.8k 0.5× 911 0.3× 2.9k 1.1× 214 15.2k
Jon Pierre Sweden 35 3.9k 0.6× 2.4k 0.7× 2.6k 0.8× 796 0.2× 890 0.3× 132 8.3k

Countries citing papers authored by Michael Howlett

Since Specialization
Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of Michael Howlett's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by Michael Howlett with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites Michael Howlett more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by Michael Howlett

Since Specialization
Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by Michael Howlett. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by Michael Howlett. The network helps show where Michael Howlett may publish in the future.

Co-authorship network of co-authors of Michael Howlett

This figure shows the co-authorship network connecting the top 25 collaborators of Michael Howlett. A scholar is included among the top collaborators of Michael Howlett based on the total number of citations received by their joint publications. Widths of edges represent the number of papers authors have co-authored together. Node borders signify the number of papers an author published with Michael Howlett. Michael Howlett is excluded from the visualization to improve readability, since they are connected to all nodes in the network.

All Works

20 of 20 papers shown
1.
Howlett, Michael & Andrea Migone. (2025). Beyond evidentiary uncertainty: mitigating political risks in policy designs. Policy Design and Practice. 8(3). 379–391.
2.
Béland, Daniel, et al.. (2024). How useful is the concept of polycrisis? Lessons from the Development of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Policy Design and Practice. 7(4). 430–441. 14 indexed citations
3.
Howlett, Michael & Andrea Migone. (2024). The Problems of Public Procurement in Canada: Rule Layering, Strategic Purchasing, and Risk Aversion as a Toxic Stew. Canadian Public Administration. 67(4). 517–532. 1 indexed citations
4.
Howlett, Michael. (2023). Note from the Editor: Lasswell Prize announcement for Policy Sciences Volume 55 (2022). Policy Sciences. 56(1). 1–1.
5.
Migone, Andrea, et al.. (2023). The politics of military megaprojects: discursive struggles in Canadian and Australian naval shipbuilding strategies. Policy and Society. 42(2). 226–244. 11 indexed citations
6.
Howlett, Michael, et al.. (2022). Enhancing Policy Capacity for Better Policy Integration: Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in a Post COVID-19 World. Sustainability. 14(18). 11600–11600. 12 indexed citations
7.
Tosun, Jale, et al.. (2022). The Significance of Leadership in the Evolution of Policy Styles: Reconciling Policy-Making in the Short and Long Term. Politische Vierteljahresschrift. 63(2). 337–358. 10 indexed citations
8.
Migone, Andrea, et al.. (2022). The politics of military procurement: the F-35 purchasing process in Canada and Australia Compared. Defence Studies. 23(2). 292–312. 5 indexed citations
9.
Hartley, Kris & Michael Howlett. (2021). Policy Assemblages and Policy Resilience: Lessons for Non-Design from Evolutionary Governance Theory. Politics and Governance. 9(2). 451–459. 9 indexed citations
10.
Goyal, Nihit, et al.. (2021). Holding out the promise of Lasswell's dream: Big data analytics in public policy research and teaching. Review of Policy Research. 38(6). 640–660. 18 indexed citations
11.
Howlett, Michael, M. Ramesh, & Giliberto Capano. (2020). Policy-Makers, Policy-Takers and Policy Tools: Dealing with Behaviourial Issues in Policy Design. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis Research and Practice. 22(6). 487–497. 28 indexed citations
12.
Howlett, Michael, et al.. (2019). Collaboration in Public Service Delivery. Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks. 13 indexed citations
13.
Capano, Giliberto & Michael Howlett. (2019). Causal logics and mechanisms in policy design: How and why adopting a mechanistic perspective can improve policy design. Public Policy and Administration. 36(2). 141–162. 80 indexed citations
14.
Kern, Florian, Karoline S. Rogge, & Michael Howlett. (2019). Policy mixes for sustainability transitions: New approaches and insights through bridging innovation and policy studies. Research Policy. 48(10). 103832–103832. 259 indexed citations breakdown →
15.
Wellstead, Adam & Michael Howlett. (2016). Assisted tree migration in North America: policy legacies, enhanced forest policy integration and climate change adaptation. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research. 32(6). 535–543. 13 indexed citations
16.
Chou, Meng‐Hsuan, Michael Howlett, & Kei Koga. (2016). Image and Substance Failures in Regional Organisations: Causes, Consequences, Learning and Change?. Politics and Governance. 4(3). 50–61. 3 indexed citations
17.
18.
Howlett, Michael, Allan McConnell, & Anthony Perl. (2014). Streams and stages: Reconciling Kingdon and policy process theory. European Journal of Political Research. 54(3). 419–434. 133 indexed citations
19.
Bernier, Luc & Michael Howlett. (2013). The Policy Analytical Capacity of the Government of Quebec: Results from a Survey of Officials. 6(2-3). 281–285. 3 indexed citations
20.
Howlett, Michael & Jeremy Rayner. (2008). Third Generation Policy Diffusion Studies and the Analysis of Policy Mixes: Two Steps Forward and One Step Back?. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis Research and Practice. 10(4). 385–402. 38 indexed citations

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

Explore authors with similar magnitude of impact

Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Paul Sabatier Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by B. Guy Peters Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by James L. Perry Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by John S. Dryzek Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Erik‐Hans Klijn Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Christopher Ansell Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by John W. Kingdon Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by R. A. W. Rhodes Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Aaron Wíldavsky Breakdown of academic impact, for papers by Jon Pierre
Rankless by CCL
2026