Policy influence

A more interdisciplinary approach can help us understand why research evidence does or doesn’t make it into policy

[Editor’s note: This piece originally appeared on the LSE Impact Blog and is reposted under Creative Commons CC BY 3.0. Effective communication of research is often cited as being most important to gaining the attention of policymakers. This arguably underestimates the sheer complexity of the policymaking process, assuming a linear route from evidence to policy and practice. Fiona Blyth and Carmen Huckel Schneider explain why breaking down walls between different academic disciplines could enhance our understanding of why research evidence does − or doesn’t − make it into policy, and also suggest questions that researchers might ask as a “gateway” to understanding these different approaches to evidence-informed policymaking.]

A primer on policy entrepreneurs

[Editor's note: This post was originally published by Joe Luetjens, a PhD fellow in the Successful Public Governance program at Utrecht School of Governance, Utrecht University at www.i2insights.org]

Learning and reflecting on Evidence Informed Policy Making

[ This post was produced by Emily Hayter is Programme Manager for Evidence Informed Policy Making at INASP: ehayter@inasp.info]

A co-creation challenge: Aligning research and policy processes

[Editor's Note: This piece was written by Katrin Prager, senior social scientist at the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland, and originally appeared at Integration and Implementation Insights.]

Policy Impact: A Think Tank’s Perspective

[Editor's note: This post was written by Dr. Annapoorna Ravichander, Head of the Communication and Policy Engagement Team, and Deeksha M Rao, Intern at the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP).]

Reminder: Webinar "Going beyond context matters"

Are you interested in better understanding how context can affect and be affected by efforts to promote a better interaction between research and policy? 

Dialogue over dissemination: Unlocking the potential of knowledge exchange through creative collaboration

[Editor's note: This piece originally appeared on the LSE Impact Blog and is reposted under Creative Commons CC BY 3.0. Knowledge exchange and impact activities often have to negotiate, incorporate and synthesise different kinds of expertise. Mona Sloane looks at how the Configuring Light Roundtables have sought to bring together perspectives on inequalities in social housing lighting by encouraging productive dialogue between those with abstract and practical expertise. This kind of collaboration offers real potential for re-defining universities as knowledge spaces in a creative way. In this model of impact, the boundaries between academic and practitioner blur and dialogue is prioritised over dissemination.]

Upcoming course on how to monitor, evaluate and learn on policy influence

[P&I has joined efforts with the On Think Tanks School and will offer its online course on Monitoring, Evaluating and Learning for Think Tanks within the school´s platform. The course starts on September 26th and lasts until November 11th. The fee is USD 500. The first 5 to sign-up will receive a 10% discount (Early Bird at USD450.00). And if you get one more person to sign-up OTT will offer you another 10% discount].

So, what is context?

[Editor's note: This post is part a series produced by Vanesa Weyrauch and Leandro Echt from Politics&Ideas to share what we learn through the project "Going beyond 'Context matters'', supported by the International Netowrk for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP).]

Free webinar: Monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) of policy influence: are the results worth the effort?

Knowledge and policy-making: the importance of thinking about how to concretely manage knowledge and communicate it

[Editor's note: This post was written by Marcela Jesús Garzón Ortiz, professional of the Department of Studies, Assessment and Knowledge Management in the Solidarity and Social Investment Fund (FOSIS) of the Government of Chile. It is part of a series intended to share results, reflections and what facilitators and participants learned through the development and conduction of the online course “Leaders of change: developing Latin American policymakers' capacity to promote the use of knowledge in policy”.]

Knowledge and policy making: the challenge to walk in other's shoes

[Editor's note: This post was written by Diego Gonnet, Director of the Department of Information for Management and Open Government at the Direction of Management and Evaluation, Office of Planning and Budgeting, Presidency of the Republic of Uruguay. It is part of a series intended to share results, reflections and what facilitators and participants learned through the development and conduction of the online course “Leaders of change: developing Latin American policymakers' capacity to promote the use of knowledge in policy”.]

Why African Think Tanks Should Lead the Youth Migration Policy Debate

[Editor's note: This post was written by Diakalia Sanogo and Julie Lafrance, Senior Program Specialists at the Think Tank Initiative.]

Helping the decision maker: how to make good public policy recommendations?

[Editor's note: This post is part of a series produced by Leandro Echt and Vanesa Weyrauch, General Coordinator and Co-founder of Politics & Ideas, to share what we learn through the development and conduction of an online course targeted to policymakers in Latin America on the use of research in policy.]

Independent Analysis and Ethics: The case of the “Uncomfortable Truth”

[Editor's Note: This post was originally published at Research to Action. During a session on the role of ethics at the Think Tank Initiative Exchange, Margarita Beneke De Sanfeliu, from FUSADES, discussed how the think tank retains reputational integrity in the face of opposition and accusation.]

Are you interested in my research? Seeking for relevant players within the Legislative Branch

[Editor's note: This post is part of a series produced by Leandro Echt and Vanesa Weyrauch from Politics&Ideas to share what we learn through the development and conduction of an online course targeted to policymakers in Latin America on the use of research in policy.]

Barriers to research use in the public health sector

By Ian Sane at flickr.com under CC license

Bridging frameworkers and circlers: new ways of thinking about policy and evidence?

By olsen.skip under CC at flickr.com

Innovating for Impact in Public Policy

Think Tanks and communications: the challenge of being reasonable, resourceful and proactive

[Editor's note: This post was written by Henna Mahmood and Shubha Jayaram, Senior Communications Associate and Senior Program Officer at Results for Development Institute (R4D).]

TTIX 2015: re-visiting the endless possibilities of written communications

P&I was invited to moderate two sessions during the Think Tank Initiative Exchange 2015 in Istanbul. The first one focused its attention on written tools for communications. Representatives from three think tanks (Dushni Weerakoon from IPS, Sri Lanka, José Angel Quirós from Fusades, El Salvador, and Susan Nicolai and Katy Harris from ODI, UK) were invited to present their experiences to enable a collective exploration of how case studies, policy briefs, and blogs can enhance engagement with key actors in the policymaking space. Then, Leonardo Garnier, former Minister of Education in Costa Rica, was invited to share his own thoughts and reflections based on this variety of tools and experiences.

The Think Tank Initiative´s Global Exchange: an opportunity to foster peer (and non-peer!) learning

By Nyctalimon with CC license

How to use research to improve health programs and services? Lessons from applying a self-assessment tool in institutional settings in three regions in Colombia

[Editor's Note: This post was written by Luz Helena Sanchez Gomez, MD MPH. She is Executive Director and Senior Researcher at the Colombian Association for Health in the field of Health Policy & Systems.]

Knowledge brokering to enhance the impact of academic research on public policy

[Editor's note: This post was written by David Phipps, Director of Research & Innovation Services at York University, Toronto, Canada.]

How to analyze the results of policy influencing: lessons from a new method under construction

[Editor's note: This post was written by Juan Fernández Labbé, researcher and coordinator of M&E Unit at RIMISP-Centro Latinoamericano para el Desarrollo Rural, a Chilean think tank.]

What’s the evidence on Evidence Informed Policy Making?

[Editor's note: This post was written by Andrew Clappison, Communication Manager at CommsConsult and Programme Manager of Research to Action.]

Embracing complexity: welcome to our land!

By Michael Heiss under CC license

Researcher’s habits: unlocking the potential for impact?

In a previous post, I discussed why I think that the objective of informing policy should be considered from the onset of a research project. Since then, I have been reflecting on how to go about changing the way researchers think, and will continue to share some ideas on this topic.

Have Evidence, Will… Um, Erm (guest post)

[Editor's note: This post was written and published by Heather Lanthorn and Suvojit Chattopadhyay. Heather is PhD Candidate in Global Health Policy (Harvard University) based in India, and Suvojit is a development professional with a particular focus on M&E. It builds on a previous post.]

Evidence Based Policy + Citizen Participation: can they be combined?

[Editor's note: This post was written by René Cardoso Baltazar (@rcardosob), strategic advisor to the International Foundation for the Development of Reliable Governments (FIDEGOC). It is a response to Andrea Ordóñez’s paper “Defining problems or providing solutions? The role of ideas in policy debates”].

Writing a Case Study II: Policy influence in Local Education in the Philippines

[Editor's note: This post introduces a new material produced by Anne Lan K. Candelaria for Politics & Ideas. It is an illustration of the case study protocol proposed by the same author, which we published in December 2013.]

A researcher in search of a policy maker: reflections on the sustainability of a project aimed at linking policy and research in developing countries

The programme "Spaces for Engagement: using knowledge to improve public decisions" (SFE) is a six-year joint initiative by Global Development Network's GDNet's program and the CIPPECCenter for the Implementation of Public Polices promoting Equity and Growth (CIPPEC). Many of the lessons learned along these six years have been systematically reflected about in a Lessons learned paper, so as to improve our future work, as well as empower others who are walking or want to walk down the same path.

Consider influence before doing the research

[Editor’s note: This post stems from a rich conversation about how research can have an impact with Roger Harris while sharing our respective chapters for an upcoming book on Information Technologies and its impact. He shares an initial literature review on the issue.]

Addressing political incentives for electoral debates: CIPPEC’s Agenda for the President 2011-2015

This post was jointly written with Agustina Sol Eskenazi, international relations student at the University of Pennsylvania.

The possibilities of research uptake in public policy: the case of education for young people and adults in Mexico

According to the General Census of 2000 and the Population Count of 2005, a third of Mexico’s population has not completed primary education. By lacking basic literacy skills, these people are more prone to poverty and discrimination, and find themselves at the bottom of income percentiles. In light of this situation, Carlos Vargas Tames has analyzed how research on education and public policy intersect in the field of education for young people and adults in Mexico, by looking at the contexts in which both research and public policy are developed. It examines how research makes an impact on education policy at the micro level (e.g. curriculums, evaluations, materials for teaching and learning) and at the macro level (national policy and goals, educational planning and decision making).

Methodological caution when presenting evidence

This post appeared originally at on think tanks, and it comments on a post by Michael Bassey of the LSE British Politics and Policy blog, who wrote about the UK Cabinet Office's announcement on the implementation of a new initiative that would build on existing evidence-based policy making to guide decision making on  £200 billion of public spending.

Leaps of faith: the successful policy without evidence

Finnish schools are among the best in the world, but did not know, and apparently did not want to know it. Ironically, Finns found out that they were actually doing great on education just in 2000 when they participated in PISA – a standardized test given to 15-year-olds on their reading, math and science skills. As this article gathers, it was unexpected. A school principal even said: “I’m still surprised; I didn’t realize we were that good.”

A role for think tanks in polarized societies

Many developing countries are politically polarized. This is certainly the case in Latin America. Many of these countries are about to face electoral milestones (e.g. Paraguay 2013, El Salvador 2014, and Venezuela 2013 after former President Chavez’s death), where polarization is intensified and debates focused on programs and ideas usually are no more than desires, defeated by demagogy, personal confrontations and political moves.