2. Percolation model

Weiss' 'percolation' model has been regarded by many as useful in a number of contexts. Weiss suggests that in most cases, research will not have a linear or direct influence on policy. This is due to several factors, both on the research side and on the policy side:

On the research side, much of what goes by the name of social science knowledge is flawed, inconclusive, ambiguous, and contradicted by evidence from other studies. Many research conclusions are limited in scope or out of date…On the policy side, there are a host of competing claims for attention. The policymaking process is a political process, with the basic aim of reconciling interests in order to negotiate a consensus, not implementing logic and truth.

Nevertheless, she argues that research exerts a powerful indirect influence on policymaking. This happens as research introduces new terms and thus shapes the policy discourse. 'Percolation' occurs as researchers start using new concepts or new frameworks for understanding, which gradually filter through various policy networks, and which incrementally alter the language used in policy circles. Weiss calls this the 'enlightenment function' of research. She sees the role of research as clarifying, accelerating and legitimising gradual shifts in opinion, thus indirectly contributing to policy change.

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