A View from the University:
Public Policy in Research and Teaching
Linking People and Knowledge
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
April 24, 2014
George Fallis
University Professor
York University
Outline
1. Introduction
2. Policy research/ Policy research community
3. The making of public policy
4. Universities
5. Government
6. Research institutes
7. Publication and dissemination
8. Observations of an (economics) professor
2
Policy research
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published research (publicly available)
describes government decisions and programs
requires institutional detail and data
analyses results of government programs/evaluation
‘relevant’ to policy makers
refereed versus non-refereed
•
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often historical perspective
often interdisciplinary
often to be read by a diverse audience (not just specialists)
often critical of government policy (value judgment/social justice)3
Policy research community
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authors of published research
readers of published research
those involved in provision of data and institutional detail
those involved in publication and dissemination
people and institutions
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universities
governments
research institutes
publication and dissemination
4
The Making of Public Policy
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constitution and the division of powers
democracy: voters, politicians, and political parties and platforms
parliament and cabinet
civil service, interest groups, media
deliberative democracy; informed engaged citizens
• political culture, the political agenda, discourse
• structural context e.g. globalization, IT revolution, aging population
• What is the role of policy research?
5
Universities
• professors
• students
• faculty associations (OCUFA)
• student associations
• Faculty of Education
• School of Public policy
• disciplinary department
• COU
• OCAV
• U15 (and other groupings)
• HE research centres
• HE conferences
• Offices of institutional
research/government relations
6
Government
Provincial
Federal
• MTCU
• MRI
• Ministry of Finance
• Ministry of Industry
• HEQCO
• OUCQA
• Statistics Canada
• National granting councils
• CFI, CRCs, Genome Canada
• Major reviews/commissions
7
Research Institutes
Some examples
Mowat Centre
Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP)
C.D. Howe Institute
Fraser Institute
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA)
.
Independent researchers/consultants
8
Publication and Dissemination
Refereed outlets
• academic journals
• academic presses
• newspapers
• working papers
• conference proceedings
• television (TVO’s The Agenda)
• internet circulation
• websites
• magazines (Maclean’s, LRC)
• blogs
• social media
[this column has main routes for
dissemination to citizens/voters]
9
Observations
• Ontario has a strong HE policy community (OISE and HEQCO)
• academic research priorities do not favour policy research
(top journals favour theory not institutional detail; refereed research)
• students have less general knowledge about policy and government
• often difficult for professors to find appropriate readings; most policy
authors do not think of students as an audience
• Governments have become less helpful to academic policy
researchers and students, especially regarding program detail and
data
10