| Bridging research
and policy: A UK Perspective
Using UK domestic policy Taylor presents five interconnecting practical
rules for turning good research into good policy.
- Understand what the problem is before attempting to present
a solution. Giving the example of Government policy on gambling,
Taylor shows how the government failed to explain the problem
to the public that gambling revenues posed to the UK economy.
It appeared that the Government was simply regulating an unregulated
sector and therefore potential popular support for new legislation
on gambling rules was lost.
- Appreciate the vital importance of the political context. Taylor
notes this may be an obvious point, nonetheless an important one
to mention. For research to impact upon policy it needs to hold
political currency.
- Finding the right combination between persistence and opportunism.
Once research findings have been presented and initially discussed,
the enthusiasm may wane along with the funding! Successful campaigns
are those which do not get forgotten, where research findings
are adapted time and time again and presented from new perspectives
to changing government officials. Successful policy makers are
those who have 'the opportunism to recognise that arguments cans
be adapted to take advantage of that political zeitgeist.'
- Understand the process. Not just the process of how research
is made into policy and not just the process of how those policy
documents are written but also understanding what happens after
that. The process of the idea going to the politicians, the process
of how it turns into policy advice and finally the process by
which it goes from policy advice at the centre out to those people
who need to implement it at street level.
- Be strategic. 'Policy making is a competitive business.' Pushing
for the adoption of new research is not an easy venture; there
will always be opponents who disagree with the analysis, oppose
the objectives or who try to manipulate the research. These are
common challenges which will only be overcome by a strategic approach.
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