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Dear colleagues, We propose a panel on ³Argumentation and Power in the Policy Process² for the ECPR General Conference (Glasgow, 3-5 September). The deadline is February 15th. Contact us quickly if you are interested. Best regards Argumentation and Power in the Policy Process Patrick Hassenteufel (University of Versailles) : [log in to unmask] Philippe Zittoun (University of Lyon) : [log in to unmask] Over the last twenty years, argumentation has become increasingly important in policy analysis. It does not only exist in studies which make reference to the argumentative turn but also in different fields that focus on policy processes such as the sociology of elites. However, the question of its role in the policy process and its relationship to power issues remains problematic. Indeed, argumentation is paradoxically viewed as both a strategic practice to legitimize proposals brought forward by an elite but also as the means used to promote democratic practices and the symmetry of participants. In the first case, argumentation is the weapon used by a dominating and powerful group in an asymmetric situation and in the second, power seems to be part of argumentation. In this panel, we would like to come back to this opposition between the power of arguments and arguments of power and overcome it. How can the complex relationship between argument and power be considered differently? How can a shift in view help us to better understand the role of argument in the policy process? What kind of analysis can enable us to explain policy discourses that succeed? This panel also seeks to grasp the methodological issues linked to combining discourse analysis and the sociology of policy elites. Our last question examines how discursive shifts linked to interactions between policy actors can be analyzed in order to provide insights into the understanding of policy changes.