The need for policy makers to understand science and for scientists to understand policy processes is widely recognised. However, the science-policy relationship is sometimes difficult and occasionally dysfunctional; it is also increasingly visible, because it must deal with contentious issues, or itself becomes a matter of public controversy, or both. We suggest that identifying key unanswered questions on the relationship between science and policy will catalyse and focus research in this field. To identify these questions, a collaborative procedure was employed with 52 participants selected to cover a wide range of experience in both science and policy, including people from government, non-governmental organisations, academia and industry. These participants consulted with colleagues and submitted 239 questions. An initial round of voting was followed by a workshop in which 40 of the most important questions were identified by further discussion and voting. The resulting list includes questions about the effectiveness of science-based decision-making structures; the nature and legitimacy of expertise; the consequences of changes such as increasing transparency; choices among different sources of evidence; the implications of new means of characterising and representing uncertainties; and ways in which policy and political processes affect what counts as authoritative evidence. We expect this exercise to identify important theoretical questions and to help improve the mutual understanding and effectiveness of those working at the interface of science and policy.
Despite claims that we now live in a post-truth society, it remains commonplace for policy makers to consult research evidence to increase the robustness of decision making. Few scholars of evidencepolicy interfaces, however, have used legislatures as sites of study, despite the fact that they play a critical role in modern democracies. There is thus limited knowledge of how research evidence is sourced and used in legislatures, which presents challenges for academics and science advisory groups, as well as to others interested in ensuring that democratic decisions are evidence-informed. Here, we present results from an empirical study into the use of research in the UK Parliament, obtained through the use of a mixed methodology, including interviews and surveys of 157 people in Parliament, as well as an ethnographic investigation of four committees. Here we are specifically interested in identifying the factors affecting the use of research evidence in Parliament with the aim of improving its use. We focus on providing advice for the Higher Education Sector, which includes improving knowledge of, and engagement in, parliamentary processes, reform of academic incentives to stimulate the production of policy-relevant information and to assist engagement, and working with trusted knowledge brokers. Implementing this advice should improve the chances that parliamentary decision making is informed by research evidence.<br /><br />Key messages<br /><br /><ul><li>The terms ‘research’ and ‘evidence’ are interpreted broadly by parliamentarians and the staff supporting them.</li><br /><li>The use of research evidence in the UK Parliament is influenced by four key factors: credibility, relevance, accessibility, and timing.</li><br /><li>Academic research evidence is valued, but its use was reported to be limited because of perceptions that it: is overly specialised for a policy audience (lacks relevance); has low visibility as an information source and can be difficult to obtain or understand (lacks accessibility); and that it is often poorly attuned to the timing of parliamentary decision making processes, such as select committee inquiries.</li><br /><li>We argue that deeper engagement between the higher education sector and legislatures could enhance each other’s ability to address key challenges, but that achieving this would require changes to incentive and support structures in academia.</li></ul>
Public policy requires public support, which in turn implies a need to enable the public not just to understand policy but also to be engaged in its development. Where complex science and technology issues are involved in policy making, this takes time, so it is important to identify emerging issues of this type and prepare engagement plans. In our horizon scanning exercise, we used a modified Delphi technique [1]. A wide group of people with interests in the science and policy interface (drawn from policy makers, policy adviser, practitioners, the private sector and academics) elicited a long list of emergent policy issues in which science and technology would feature strongly and which would also necessitate public engagement as policies are developed. This was then refined to a short list of top priorities for policy makers. Thirty issues were identified within broad areas of business and technology; energy and environment; government, politics and education; health, healthcare, population and aging; information, communication, infrastructure and transport; and public safety and national security.
Funders should not support policy-relevant work that treats policy impact as an afterthought, advises Chris Tyler.
This article provides an introduction to science advisory structures in elected legislatures; an arena of public decision-making which, although critical to the healthy functioning of democratic societies, has been largely neglected in recent discussions of science advice. The article begins by contrasting the functions and operating environments of legislatures with those of executive branches of governments, examining how these differences shape the requirements of their respective science advisory structures. A study of three national legislative science advice units within Europe is then presented, revealing a range of advisory structures and practices. These variations in approach suggest different underpinning conceptions about both why science advice is being provided, and how science advice can most effectively influence a legislature's activities. Given these differences, and our currently limited comparative understanding of the influence of scientific knowledge across different spheres of public decision-making, we argue that more attention needs to be focused on the difficult challenge of mapping and understanding legislative science advisory structures via a comparative international study. We close by arguing that an international comparative exercise of this type could significantly improve our understanding of the different influences science advisory practices and structures can have on the function of our democratic societies' deliberative bodies. This article is published as part of a collection on scientific advice to governments.
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