Emmeline Ledgerwood draws on evidence from archived oral history interviews to consider the extent to which an MP’s background in science, technology, engineering, maths, and medicine has contributed to his or her activity as a parliamentarian. This post originally appeared on the LSE British Politics and Policy Blog. The varying national responses to the coronavirus … Continued
Category: policymaking
Is public accountability possible in algorithmic policymaking? The case for a public watchdog
Despite algorithms becoming an increasingly important tool for policymakers, little is known about how they are used in practice and how they work, even amongst the experts tasked with using them. Drawing on research into the use of algorithmic models in the UK and Dutch governments, Daan Kolkman argues that the inherent complexity of algorithms … Continued
Researcher Activism – Reflections on a career
As recent events, such as the Black Lives Matter protests, have demonstrated academic research and researchers often play important roles in activist movements. Drawing on her own experience as a researcher activist, Dorothy Broom consider how to engage effectively with the different identities and responsibilities engendered by researcher activism and presents six starting points for a wider … Continued
Strength in diversity – Changing the shape of expert engagement with the UK parliament
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in demand for expert knowledge, but, as previous studies have shown, the expertise provided to the UK parliament in the past has often been drawn from a narrow pool of researchers. In this post, Naomi Saint and Sarah Foxen reflect on recent evidence showing greater diversity in … Continued
Evidence for Policy in the Wake of COVID-19: Short – Medium – Long Term Impacts
COVID-19 has rapidly and radically reshaped interactions between academics and policymakers and the kinds of evidence being used to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this post, Vivian Tseng, considers how research-policy relationships might develop in the short, medium to long term and how research funders might seize opportunities presented by COVID-19 to design equity-centred … Continued
10 Ways scientists can better engage with decision makers
The figure of the decision maker is often invoked as a key conduit for academic research to be transformed into social impact. Drawing on work undertaken for their recently published book chapter (with Dr Megan Evans), David Rose and Rebecca Jarvis distill findings from a review of how academics have engaged with decision makers in the … Continued
How can researchers support Parliament in its scrutiny of the Government’s decisions and actions around the COVID-19 outbreak?
The COVID-19 pandemic and the conditions of uncertainty that surround it have led to an unprecedented demand for knowledge from Parliament and policymakers. In this post, Parliament’s Knowledge Exchange team (Sarah Foxen, Naomi Saint and Laura Webb) outline how researchers can engage and contribute to Parliament’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its wider impacts. … Continued
Science in inaction – The shifting priorities of the UK government’s response to COVID-19 highlights the need for publicly accountable expert advice.
The phrase following the science is repeated frequently in relation to government policies to address COVID-19. However, what this science might be and how it is better than other ‘sciences’ is less frequently explained. In this post, Jana Bacevic reviews the UK government’s initial response to the COVID-19 outbreak and argues that a key factor … Continued
The civil service doesn’t just need more scientists – it needs a decision-making revolution
In the UK, the election of a new government has seen a renewed focus on research policy and the use of evidence in policymaking. In this repost, David Rose, Mark Burgman and William Sutherland, draw on their experiecnces of working within different government departments, to consider how evidence is currently used by the civil service and to set out an … Continued
To improve the global evidence ecosystem we need to listen to the Global South.
Drawing on their recent study of South Africa’s evidence ecosystem, Ruth Stewart, Harsha Dayal, Laurenz Langer and Carina van Rooyen, show how the global north has much to learn from evidence ecosystems in the global south. Outlining five lessons that can be learnt from the South African evidence ecosystem, they argue that if notions of … Continued