How to Make Friends in Politics and Influence Policymakers
| Published date | 01 June 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/20419058241260788 |
| Author | Daniel J. Bowman,Matthew Hepplewhite |
| Date | 01 June 2024 |
30 POLITICAL INSIGHT • JUNE 2024
Academics can have an
important role to play in
policymaking. Expert advice
and testimony can help and
guide policymakers. But how can scholars
get involved in the policy process? It’s
not always obvious and apparent – which
is why the executive committee of the
Political Studies Association Early Career
Network has sought to demystify this
process and provide our members with
some of the tools required to influence
policy and legislative outcomes. To this
end, in February this year we organised an
event – at the UK Parliament, naturally –
that brought together four panellists – Lord
Lingfield, Risa Hodgkin (Senior Researcher
at the Institute for Government), Dani
Payne (Senior Researcher at the Social
Market Foundation), and Chloe Westley
(Former Senior Advisor to Boris Johnson) –
and early career academics to discuss how
scholars can influence policymakers. Here is
what we learned.
How to Make Friends
in Politics and
Influence Policymakers
Academics are increasingly expected to show impact with their
work. But how can they engage policymakers? Daniel J. Bowman
and Matthew Hepplewhite report on best practice.
1. Links between researchers
and policymakers
Building ties between academia and
policymakers is vital. This often means
encouraging early career academics to be
brave and contact key stakeholders in their
area of study, oering their expertise on
current projects that relate to their own
research. To the panellists, this was one of
the most important practical steps to take,
as without contact, policymakers will not be
aware of the knowledge scholars can bring to
the process. Policymakers love framing their
legislative proposals as evidence-based – so
academics can be really useful to them!
Political Insight June 2024 BU.indd 30Political Insight June 2024 BU.indd 30 23/05/2024 15:2923/05/2024 15:29
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