Ave Laas

Introduction

Ave Laas is a PhD candidate and Junior Research Fellow in Political Science at the School of Governance, Law and Society, Tallinn University. Her research focuses on policy-making processes, particularly on how the social constructions of target groups, power relations, and institutional mechanisms shape policy design and policy change over time. In her doctoral dissertation, she analyses the formation of target groups’ reputation and political power, and their relational impact on policy-making in the Estonian context.

Her theoretical approach combines perspectives from policy design, institutionalism, and a relational understanding of the policy process.

Main tasks

conducting doctoral research and preparing academic publications

participating in research projects and academic collaboration networks

teaching and leading seminars in political science and policy analysis

supervising student theses and providing academic advising

preparing policy-analytical expert assessments and contributions

Areas of research

policy design and policy-making processes

social constructions of policy target groups

relational and institutional approaches in policy analysis

path dependency and policy change

child and family policy

public policy methodology