Is Anyone Listening?

This paper starts from the observation that there is a lot of research activity, with an uncertain impact on policy. It briefly reviews various inputs into the debate on research/policy linkages, and highlights the need to understand the policy process and to attempt to see issues from the policy-makers' perspective. This includes the need to develop a more thorough understanding of policy that includes policy implementation; 'policy is what policy does'. It also touches on ways of making use of 'policy narratives' and 'epistemic communities', as well as entrance points into the literature on campaigning. The paper concludes that if researchers are to have an impact on policy, they need to build up an understanding of how policy is made and how it is implemented.