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Policy Masterclass with Paul Cairney- Online One-Day Workshop Event

Prof. Paul Cairney
Time:
10:00 - 16:00
Date:
20 January 2021
Venue:
Online via Teams

Event details

This one-day workshop invites participants to think critically and pragmatically about research engagement with policymakers. Parts 1 and 2 provide the opportunity to (1) engage critically with common advice for engagement with policymakers and (2) think about how research engagement initiatives relate to policy processes. Part 3 is a practical workshop in which each participant gives a short presentation on the policy relevance of their research. Part 4 is the opportunity to follow-up this discussion in a small post-workshop group session. 1. Thinking about ‘top tips on influencing policy’ (10-11.15am) This session introduces the most common ‘impact’ advice by academics who have been asked to reflect on their success. We explore the usefulness of this advice from the perspective of researchers who are relatively new to this field. Background reading: • Beware the well-intentioned advice of unusually successful academics • Making an impact with research: how to engage critically with well-meaning advice • Kathryn Oliver and Paul Cairney (2019) ‘The Dos and Don’ts of influencing policy: a systematic review of advice to academics’, Palgrave Communications Open Access PDF 2. Research engagement in political policymaking environments (11.30-12.45) This session explores a common question in research engagement workshops: why do policymakers seem to ignore my evidence, and how can I respond? We reflect on three main explanations: 1. Researchers and policymakers understand evidence in different ways. 2. Policymakers need to find ways to ignore most information. 3. Policymakers engage in a policymaking environment over which they have limited knowledge and even less control. We then discuss how to respond. We engage critically with some guiding questions: 1. Effective engagement requires storytelling skills, but do we possess them? 2. It requires a combination of evidence and emotional appeals, but is it ethical to do more than describe the research? 3. The absence of a simple policy process requires us to engage for the long term, to form alliances, learn the ‘rules of the game’, and build up trust in the messenger. However, do we all have the resources and how should we invest them? Background reading: • Why don’t policymakers listen to your evidence? • The Politics of Evidence-Based Policymaking • Paul Cairney and Richard Kwiatkowski (2017) ‘How to communicate effectively with policymakers: combine insights from psychology and policy studies’, Palgrave Communications PDF • Paul Cairney and Kathryn Oliver (2020) ‘How should academics engage in policymaking to achieve impact?’ Political Studies Review, 18, 2, 228-44 PDF 3. Practical workshop: presentations and listening exercise (1.30-4pm) This session moves from abstract theory and general advice to concrete examples and specific strategies. Each participant should come prepared to speak about their research and its policy relevance in approximately 3 minutes (with or without powerpoint). Their analysis should address one or all of the following: 1. What is my story and/ or the story of my research? 2. What is the policy relevance of my research? 3. Which policymakers should respond, and what should they do? After each presentation, each other participant should be prepared to ask questions about the problem raised and the strategy to engage. However, this workshop is primarily a listening exercise, in which we: • Keep our cameras on to engage with each presenter • Listen to a collection of continuous presentations (in a challenging environment) • Identify the impact of presentations (which elements do you remember, and why?) • Reflect on lessons for future presentations to policymakers 4. Follow up discussion with Cairney (TBC) This session will be finalised following (1) initial feedback at the end of the day (before 4pm) and (2) post-workshop feedback to signal demand for additional discussion. We anticipate some opportunity for one-to-one or small group sessions with Cairney to reflect on your specific plans or professional development.

Speaker information

Professor Paul Cairney is Professor of Politics and Public Policy,University of Stirling, UK ,Twitter handle @Cairneypaul. His research interests are in comparative public policy and policy theories, which he uses to explain the use of evidence in policy and policymaking. See https://paulcairney.wordpress.com/cv/ for his full CV.

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