In this first session, Professor Catherine Durose (Professor of Public Policy and Co-Director of the Heseltine Institute) helped to demystify policy-making and how evidence is used by policy-makers, and offered a range of practical tips on how to develop opportunities to influence policy. View the session slides here.
What is policy?
‘Public policy’ affects almost all aspects of our lives, and yet different definitions provide different perspectives on policy-making, as well as how this is analysed and understood.
Paul Cairney (Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the University of Stirling) provides a useful starting point, defining policy as “the sum total of government action, from signals of intent to the final outcomes”.
This definition encapsulates the actions of multiple actors, in multiple organisations and across multiple locations. In the UK, from civil servants in Whitehall, to officers in local government and professionals in the NHS.
How is policy made?
Policy-making is are often presented as an orderly cycle, moving progressively through several distinct stages from start to finish. However, whilst such simplified models can be useful, they can also be inaccurate and misleading for academics seeking to achieve impact.
In reality, policy-making is often messier, and more political. The policy environment consists of many policy actors spread across many locations, each with their own rules, networks, and reference points. They also operate within a policy environment that is constrained by established norms and path dependencies, with limited resources and attention, and subject to events and external forces, from electoral cycles to media and public opinion.
And yet policymakers must act, and find ways to overcome these challenges to make decisions. To navigate this environment, policy-makers often rely on tried-and-tested approaches, from trusted sources to recognised framings of policy issues.
Academics need to shape their impact strategies to respond to these realities.
How can researchers influence policy-making?
Increasing focus has been given to how academics and researchers can meet the needs of policy-makers by building relationships and providing accessible information to respond to a perceived evidence gap. This is clearly important, but it’s not the full story.
Academics also need to respond to the ways in which policy-makers think and the environment they work in. This may also involve developing coalitions with like-minded partners to amplify shared messages, and considering how to frame and present their research in a persuasive way that meets the needs of policy-makers.
Top tips
Academics can seek to make their research as engaging as possible for policy-makers in different ways:
- Conduct background research, network, and engage in policy events to better understand policymaker perspectives.
- Work with others to combine evidence, and coordinate impact strategies.
- Identify a mentor in your area that has successfully engaged with policymakers.
- Be patient, persistent, and pragmatic in your approach to policy impact.
- Avoid using academic jargon when communicating with policy-making audiences.
- Promote the full depth of your academic expertise, as well as specific research findings.
- Consider creative ways to present your research, for example, combining different kinds of evidence.
- Prepare ‘pre-digested’ results of research that are addressed to policy-making audiences directly. The Heseltine Institute’s Policy Briefing series provides one local route to achieving this.
Interactive activities
In the session, we used interactive exercises that you can try now to begin planning your policy impact.
Activity 1: Read this short article, How to be heard, and discuss with a colleague how this may prompt new insights in how to generate impact from your research.
Activity 2: Watch these two short videos of experiences of seeking policy impact.
The first is from a series of films commissioned by the University of Liverpool with different colleagues talking about how they have generated impact from their research. Here’s one from Professor Thomas Fischer, Geography and Planning.
The second is from a lobbyist working for Shelter.
Identify the key insights for developing policy engagement and impact. Consider what surprises you and how this may affect what you do next.
Activity 3: Begin to complete your personal policy impact plan.
You may not have all the answers to the questions immediately but use them to prompt reflection.
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