Michael Howlett

Michael Howlett (Professor) BSocSci.(Hon)(Ott), MA(Br Col), PhD (Queen's) is  Burnaby Mountain Chair in the Department of Political Science at Simon Fraser University and  Professor in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. He specializes in public policy analysis, political economy, and resource and environmental policy.

Professor Howlett taught at  Queen's University (1986-1988) and the  University of Victoria (1988-1989) before coming to SFU and was Visiting Professor at the  Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore (2009-2010) and the  Universita degli studi di Cagliari (2012). He is the author of  Policy Consultancy in Comparative Perspective: (2018) and  Canadian Public Policy (2013);  Designing Public Policies (2011), and co-author of  Application of Federal Legislation to Alberta's Mineable Oil Sands (2013),  The Public Policy Primer (2010 and 2016),  Integrated Policymaking for Sustainable Development (2009),  Studying Public Policy (2009, 2003 & 1995),  In Search of Sustainability (2001),  The Political Economy of Canada (1999 & 1992) and  Canadian Natural Resource and Environmental Policy (1997 & 2005). He has edited  Canadian Forest Policy (2001) and co-edited  Elgar Handbook of Policy Formulation (2017);  Routledge Handbook of Comparative Policy Analysis (2017);  Policy Work in Canada (2017);  Varieties of Governance (2015);  Policy Paradigms in Theory and Practice (2015); Regulating Next Generation Agri-Food Bio-Technologies (2012),   (2012),  British Columbia Politics and Government (2009),  European and North American Policy Change (2009);  Canada's Resource Economy in Transition (2008);  Policy Analysis in Canada (2007);  Deregulation and Its Discontents (2006);  Executive Styles in Canada(2005);  Designing Government (2005);  The Real Worlds of Canadian Politics (2004);  The Provincial State In Canada (1992 & 2000);  Innovation Systems in a Global Context (1998);  Policy Studies in Canada (1996), and  The Puzzles of Power (1994 & 1998). His articles have been published in  numerous professional journals in Canada, the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Australia and New Zealand.

Dr. Howlett was founding member and Secretary-Treasurer (1995-2006) of the  British Columbia Political Studies Association and co-editor of its  Proceedings. He was editor of the  POLCAN listserver (1995-1997) and currently edits the  CAN-POL Maillist (2008-present). He was also English language co-editor of the  Canadian Journal of Political Science(2002-2006), co-editor of the  World Political Science Review (2003-2014), Associate Editor of the  Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research, (2011-2013) and administrative editor of the Canadian Political Science Review (2007-2010). He is currently organizer of the  Policy Design Lab and editor of the  Annual Review of Policy Design and  Policy Sciences, and is co-editor of the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis (Book Review Editor 2001-2006),  Policy & Society, the  University of Toronto Press Series in Comparative Political Economy and Public Policy, the  Policy Press International Library of Policy Analysis,  Cambridge Studies in Comparative Public Policy and  Cambridge Elements of Public Policy. He served on the Editorial Boards of  Canadian Public Administration (1996-2003);  Policy Studies Journal (1992-2003),  Canadian Journal of Political Science (2006-2010),  State and Local Government Review (2007-2010), and  Public Administration Review (2011-2015) and currently sits on the Editorial Boards of  Journal of Public Policy,  BC Studies,  Policy Sciences,  Canadian Political Science Review,  Forest Policy and Economics,  International Review of Public Administration,  Journal of Asian Public Policy,  Revista Italiana di Politiche Pubbliche,  Energy Research & Social Science,  Journal of European Public Policy,  Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development,  Public Policy and Governance Series,  Palgrave Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy,  Rowman Series on Challenging Governance, and  Routledge Studies in Energy Transitions. He is the current chair of  Research Committee 30 (Comparative Public Policy) of the  International Political Science Association and sits on the organizing committee of the  International Conference on Public Policy.

Research Areas

  • Biotechnology
  • Climate change
  • Decentralisation and federalism
  • Environmental and Natural Resource Policy
  • Policy design and implementation
  • Regulatory policy

https://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/our-people/our-faculty/faculty-profile/michael-howlett