About
Dr. Lihi Lahat is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at Sapir Academic College in Israel. She is also an Affiliate Associate Professorin the Department of Political Science and the Azrieli Institute of Israel Studies at Concordia University, Montreal. She serves as an associate editor for Policy and Society. Her research interests include policymakers' perceptions of poverty, the regulation of personal social services, trust, and well-being.
Her recent work focuses on collaborative governance, contemporary challenges faced by public sector employees, and the effects of policies on time use and well-being. Professor Lahat received her BA in Political Science, MA (cum laude) in Public Policy, and her PhD in Public Policy from Tel Aviv University. Her doctoral dissertation examined policymakers' perceptions of poverty. Her work appeared in top journals, including Policy Sciences, Social Policy & Administration, Public Management Review, International Review of Administrative Sciences, Policy Design and Practice, The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Review of Public Personnel Administration, Journal of European Social Policy, International Journal of Public Sector Management, and Poverty & Public Policy. She co-edited with Dr. Sher-Hadar and Professor Galnoor, Collaborative Governance: Theory and Lessons from Israel (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021; Hebrew edition, 2022). Lahat serves as an associate editor in Policy and Society.
Professor Lahat has been affiliated with the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel since 2009. She served on the executive board of the Political Science Association (2011-2013); directed the "Outcome-Oriented Management and Practice in Human Services Project" at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services (2013-2014) and served with Dr. Sher-Hadar as academic co-director of the collaborative governance research group at the Chazan Center, Van Leer Jerusalem Institute (2015-2018). She served as a public representative on the Social Work Committee advising the Israeli Minister of Labor, Social Affairs, and Social Services (2018-2021), and held board positions with ESPAnet Israel (2017-2025) and the Association for Israel Studies (2021-2025).
Professor Lahat was a visiting fellow at the Azrieli Institute of Israel Studies, Concordia University (Fall 2018; Fall 2022), the Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel at Michigan State University (Fall 2019), the Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Lawand Israel Studies, University of California, Berkeley (Fall 2024) and the Florence School of Transnational Governance, at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy (Fall 2025).
Research statement: “As a scholar of public policy and administration, my research aims to deepen the understanding of government operations and their societal impacts, while identifying pathways to improve government action. Working mainly within the neo-institutional framework, I analyze how institutional arrangements influence policy outcomes. My scholarship includes comparative and multidisciplinary perspectives and employs diverse methods suited to the research questions. Recognizing the close connection between public policy and public administration, I integrate both fields into my work."
