How academics can support the reform of public policy: four steps to get research in front of policymakers
3 November 2022 Leave a comment
The problem: Academic research is often not ‘cutting through’ to inform policy in government.
Why it matters: Providing relevant academic research in an appropriate, timely way could make a difference to the quality of policy formulation.
The solution: Deliver understandable research evidence to key stakeholders at the right time to ensure it is considered in the policymaking process.
Elected politicians, if not the civil servants who support them, see their role as being one of creating public policy – indeed, that is why, in their minds at least, they were elected. Often, however, they find themselves short of research evidence to support their proposals: this could cover the impact of existing policy – if there is existing policy – as well as an assessment and forecast of the potential impact of new or amended policy.
Governments commission research from their own research teams and, sometimes, from external research organisations. In many countries, of course, politicians are not around in their roles for long enough to have to answer for their policy decisions when the policy fails to make the desired impact. Too often, policy is incoherent and short-lived.
The interests of interest groups
Interest groups – groups, usually membership-based, that represent specific interests but which are independent of government and not party political – usually have one objective related to the advocacy and the reform of public policy. In the case of ‘cause’ groups, this is driven by a desire to make the world a better place; ‘sectional’ groups, on the other hand, represent a specific section of society and want to make a difference for their members. In the case of business associations, they especially want to make it easier for their members to ‘do business’. Interest groups make use of a wide range of techniques to support their advocacy and one that is crucial is the undertaking of appropriate research.
In both cases, however, the research can be quite narrow-focused and often is designed to support the desired policy outcome rather than to provide independent and objective research that might shed insight on a particular issue. There is thus the potential to provide good research evidence on salient issues that could inform not only government but also other stakeholders in the issue. The availability of such research allows the different actors to argue about the most effective policy responses rather than arguing about the veracity of the facts.
A recent report, focusing on the role of research evidence in the work of the UK Parliament, claimed that “academic research is not cutting through”. They further claim that the voluntary sector (so effectively interest groups) outperforms higher education in terms of submissions, that academic research was often submitted too late to be influential and that there was too much technical jargon.
If you have research evidence that is relevant to decisions being taken, or soon to be taken, in the policy arena, there are limitless opportunities to contribute to the debate.
Whilst other legislatures may not make use of research in the same way as the UK Parliament, it is highly likely that academic research is ignored in other polities too and thus the suggestions below are generalisable. There is little doubt that providing relevant academic research in an appropriate way at the appropriate time could make a difference to the quality of policy formulation. I have, therefore, four suggestions that could make it more likely that research evidence is considered in and indeed influences policy formulation.
- Build relationships
Developing and maintaining relationships will make it much more likely that when people need your research they will contact you. Three good starting points are key civil servants in ministries relevant to your work, public policy advisory committees and relevant interest groups. When I was CEO of the UK’s small business service, for example, we reached out to academics researching entrepreneurship and met with several on a regular basis. Many ministries and agencies are not so proactive, but nevertheless many of their staff would like to develop relationships with academic researchers so that they know where to turn when they need evidence. Members of the UK Parliament have created more than 700 All-Party Parliamentary Groups – informal groups many of which involve outsiders – covering an amazing range of topics. Making contact with them, at the very least, helps to identify current issues.
Many countries make use of expert committees or policy advisory committees: the US has over 1,000 at federal level; the EU has more than 700; the UK does not know how many it has, but it is well into the hundreds. These all provide opportunities to feed research evidence into the policy review and formulation process.
And, not surprisingly, relevant interest groups would love to develop linkages to academic research. Indeed, many of them commission research but all would like to find easier access to relevant evidence when they need it.
- Identify issues relevant to you
Identify the issue – and the specific questions of key stakeholders – as early as you can. If you do not have anything to share immediately, but it is an area of interest, then track the issue, keep in touch with your network and respond when you can.
- Be timely
Provide information in a timely fashion. Stakeholders need it in time for it to be useful and they need it provided in a way that makes their work as easy as possible. If the timetable is not clear, then ask about deadlines. Even if you are unable to provide research evidence the first time around, changes in policy provide enormous opportunities to monitor and assess outcomes and impact.
- Present clearly and simply
Policymakers – and especially elected politicians – will not want to wade through material that they find hard to understand, so use language appropriate to the audience. Datta & Jones (2011) stress the importance of ensuring evidence is accessible – as well as independent and relevant – and that researchers “narrate a compelling story with practical policy recommendations”. They suggest that research for legislators is presented in short summaries ideally illustrated with graphics or charts.
To conclude, if you have research evidence that is relevant to decisions being taken, or soon to be taken, in the policy arena, there are limitless opportunities to contribute to the debate. If your research evidence is independent, authoritative, easily understandable and provided at the right time then policymakers and interest groups will all want to make use of it.
This blog first appeared on apolitical.com, 30 May 2022