govern-workflow

Governance Workflow Router (govern-workflow)

The orchestrator for a Governance submission. Governance (Wiley-Blackwell, founded 1988, published

in association with IPSA Research Committee 27 — Structure & Organization of Government) is the leading

journal of **executive politics, public policy, public administration, and the organization of the

state**, read comparatively and internationally. The router's first job is to confirm the paper makes a

comparative/institutional contribution to how we understand governing — then send the user to the

matching skill. It dispatches; it does not write content.

When to trigger

• Starting a new Governance paper and unsure where to begin
• Mid-project and unsure which skill applies next
• Unsure whether the paper is in scope (executive politics / policy / PA / the state) vs. off-fit
• Returning with a decision letter (route to govern-rebuttal)

Routing map (stage / symptom → skill)

Is this a Governance question? fit?     → govern-topic-selection
Where does it sit in the field?         → govern-literature-positioning
What is the argument / contribution?    → govern-theory-building
Is the design defensible?               → govern-research-design
Are the analyses sound?                 → govern-data-analysis
Are the exhibits clear?                 → govern-tables-figures
Does it read for the SOG community?     → govern-writing-style
Data Availability Statement & materials?→ govern-transparency-and-data
How will it be judged (double-blind)?   → govern-review-process
Ready to submit (Wiley portal)?         → govern-submission
Got an R&R / decision letter?           → govern-rebuttal

Default order

`topic-selection → literature-positioning → theory-building → research-design → data-analysis →

tables-figures → writing-style → transparency-and-data → review-process → submission → rebuttal`

Iterate: most Governance papers loop theory ↔ design ↔ analysis several times before writing-style,

and a comparative paper often revisits case/country scope after positioning.

Governance fit check (run before routing)

Force a one-minute fit check; route to the repair skill if any check is weak.

| Check | Pass condition | Route if weak |

|-------|----------------|---------------|

| Comparative / institutional significance | The claim travels across countries or policy domains and speaks to how the state governs — not one agency in one country described once. | govern-topic-selection |

| In scope, not off-fit | It is executive politics / public policy / PA / organization of the state. It is not corporate governance, and not a literature review or pure bibliometric study (both out of scope). | govern-topic-selection |

| Method pluralism | Any rigorous approach is welcome — quantitative, qualitative, comparative-historical, mixed — and is defended on its own terms, not forced into a regression template. | govern-research-design |

| Transparency plan | A Data Availability Statement is planned (mandatory at submission); replication data/code location is identified where applicable. | govern-transparency-and-data |

If the paper fails the comparative/institutional check, do not route to writing-style. It needs a

theory or fit repair — Governance reviewers reject competent single-country administrative

descriptions that never become a contribution to comparative governance.

Sibling-journal guard

If the contribution is really to a sibling audience, the paper may be misrouted to Governance:

• Practitioner-facing public-management lessons for US administrators → Public Administration Review (PAR).
• PA theory development for its own sake → JPART.
• Policy-analysis / program-evaluation with a cost-benefit framing → JPAM.
• Pure regulatory-studies / regulatory-instrument design → Regulation & Governance (Wiley sibling).

Governance wins when the premium is comparative/institutional reach across countries and a

contribution to how we understand the state and governing.

Anti-patterns

• Treating Governance like a single-country PA outlet — the contribution must travel comparatively/institutionally
• Submitting a literature review or bibliometric mapping (out of scope here)
• Confusing the journal's "governance" with corporate governance (hard out of scope)
• Deferring the Data Availability Statement until acceptance — it is required at submission

Output format

【Stage】fit / positioning / theory / design / analysis / exhibits / writing / transparency / review / submit / rebut
【Scope verdict】in-scope (exec politics / policy / PA / state) / off-fit (corporate gov / lit-review / sibling journal)
【Route to】govern-<skill>
【Why】one line
【Then】the next skill after that

Supplementary resources

• [../../resources/external_tools.md](../../resources/external_tools.md) — comparative-governance data + software by method
• [../../resources/official-source-map.md](../../resources/official-source-map.md) — official Governance/Wiley URLs behind every fact in this pack