UK social scientists feel a growing pressure to achieve policy change. In reality, this process is more complex than it sounds. James Lloyd looks at six reasons that limit the impact research can have on policy change. None of this should suggest that academic researchers shouldn’t seek to influence policymaking. But more consideration is needed on how best academic evidence can leverage the real-world nature of policymaking

Lloyd, James

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blogs.lse.ac.ukhttp://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2016/05/25/should-academics-be-expected-to-change-policy-six-reasons-why-it-is-unrealistic/Should academics be expected to change policy? Six reasonswhy it is unrealistic for research to drive policy changeUK social scientists feel a growing pressure to achieve policy change. In reality, this process is morecomplex than it sounds. James Lloyd looks at six reasons that limit the impact research can have onpolicy change. None of this should suggest that academic researchers shouldn’t seek to influencepolicymaking. But more consideration is needed on how best academic evidence can leverage thereal-world nature of policymaking.There has been understandable relief at indications from the government that academic researcherswill be exempt from anti-advocacy clauses in research grant contracts. The possibility that academics with publiclyfunded research grants would not be able to press the government for policy change was clearly unacceptable andanti-democratic.However, the announcement comes at a time of intense debate about the importance of academics being seen toachieve public policy change using their research. Everyone agrees the best available evidence should informpolicy decision-making. And most can point to policy decisions that fall short of the paradigm of ‘evidence-basedpolicy-making’. Yet out of such consensus, UK social scientists seemingly feel under growing pressure to achievepolicy change: to show not just engagement or use of their research – both challenging in themselves – butdiscernible changes in policy and practice.Image credit: Pixabay Public DomainThe notion of academic experts as objective, benign guardians of knowledge who can glide into the policy processand effect change through revealing the insights from their work is an attractive one. But is it realistic or even1/3desirable to expect academics to achieve policy change? Here are some reasons to think not:1. Some research has no policy relevanceThis should be obvious, but it is worth highlighting that much excellent social science research has limited relevanceto public policy or contemporary policy debates and agendas.2. Much research supports the policy status quoAnother truth that is more obvious to those working in policy analysis: much social science research supports thestatus quo in public policy. However, such research is no less useful or important to policymakers, and it is wrong tothink that research has only achieved policy impact if there is an identifiable change in policy design.3. Politics almost always trumps evidenceEvidence-based policymaking is an attractive paradigm, but in a parliamentary democracy, political considerationswill almost always take precedence. Policy decision-making is bound by what is politically feasible. If a researcher’swork points to policy choices beyond these boundaries, it is usually unrealistic to expect policy change, howevercompelling the research findings. And if bits of an academic’s research help to justify a politician’s ideology orperspective, it is usually the findings that will be most likely to result in policy change.4. Policymaking is path-dependent and chaoticExpecting anyone from any field to routinely influence or change policy is unrealistic. Personalities, relationshipsand politics all determine policy decisions, more than we might want to believe. Even formal government‘consultations’ are subject to drivers and motivations not apparent to anyone outside the sponsoring department.5. ‘Bounded rationality’ applies to researchersJust as policymakers are limited in their analytical and knowledge capacity, so are academic researchers.Academics may think they know how a particular public policy should be designed, but there are inevitably factorsbeyond their knowledge or understanding, and they are not necessarily well placed to make policyrecommendations. In fact, the role of ‘policy analyst’ is increasingly being promoted as a standalone profession bythe civil service, involving distinct knowledge and skills that academics are simply not trained or practised in.6. Influencing policy is a specialist, time-consuming activityIndeed, a huge lobbying industry comprised of skilled, experienced public affairs professionals exists to influencepolicy decisions for their clients or employers – often with negligible success. It is not realistic to expect specialistacademic researchers to possess a skill-set from a completely different sector, nor compete effectively with it whenacademics promote policy recommendations that conflict with other interest groups.2/3Of course, none of this should suggest that academic researchersshouldn’t seek to influence policymaking if they want to. A selectfew are stunningly successful at it. And of course, academics havea social responsibility to ensure their work is accessible andavailable for use in policy design and decision-making. The impactagenda has been highly effective in changing academic culture,and increasing openness and engagement. Few would now disputethat researchers have a responsibility to ensure non-technicalsummaries of their research are available, their publications areproperly logged in searchable depositories, and to engage withrelevant opportunities, such as calls for evidence fromParliamentary Select Committees.However, expecting academic researchers to achieve policychange is incoherent with the real-world nature of policymaking. Itreflects an incomplete understanding of how policymaking occurs. Ifwe do want to see more UK social science achieve policy change,then what is required? Whole books could be written on this topic. But here are some pointers.First, more emphasis, investment and time needs to be spent on selection of research that has the potential tochange policy. This suggests the need for more capacity built into impact processes that uses experienced policyprofessionals with broad policy knowledge.Second, central to policymaking and related debates are policy narratives: the ‘stories’ that resonate with decisionmakers about the choices before them. Research findings are not policy narratives, and helping more researchachieve policy change will require more focus on how research findings are presented as policy narratives.Finally, more thought is required about the role of academic researchers as policy actors, or ‘policy entrepreneurs’.For a range of reasons, it is far from clear that academic researchers are well placed to be the policy entrepreneurthat uses their research to drive policy change. This means more attention needs to be given to the other policyactors available, who participate in and drive policy debates.Note: This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of the LSE Impact blog, nor of the LondonSchool of Economics. Please review our Comments Policy if you have any concerns on posting a comment below.About the AuthorJames Lloyd is Director of the Strategic Society Centre. He read Philosophy at University College London, and hasMasters degrees in Comparative Politics and in Public Policy. James has worked at a number of Westminster think-tanks, and at the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit. James has taken part in various expert working groups andcommittees for the Department of Health and HM Treasury, and is currently an Advisor to the ESRC ResearchCentre on Micro-Social Change at the University of Essex. He has been called as an expert witness to provide oralevidence to the Health Select Committee, the Pension Schemes Bill Committee and the Public Administration SelectCommittee.Copyright 2015 LSE Impact of Social Sciences - Unless otherwise stated, this work is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution Unported 3.0 License.3/3

Should academics be expected to change policy? Six reasons why it is unrealistic for research to drive policy change

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