Working Group on Knowledge, Policy and Power

This Working group has been merged in 2009 with the Multidimensional Poverty Working Group.

Activities

• Call for Submissions: EADI Prize for Development Studies 2010
• Call for Book Proposals: Critical Perspectives on Development

Recent Activities

• Annual Report 2008
• Sessions at the 12^_th EADI General Conference, 24-28 June 2008, Geneva
• Event: Producing policy change: Innovation in the agriculture sector - Friday 9th May, ODI
• Seminar Series 2008: "The Politics of Policy Making: Thinking Cross-Sectorally" - Call for interest/papers
• Programme of events

About this Working Group

Background

This EADI working group is informed by increasing interest across Europe, particularly so at EC DG Dev in the linkages between knowledge, research and policy processes (notably the European Development Report and DG Dev's Forward Looking and Policy Coherence department).

The subject matter

The analysis of policy making processes in international development has emerged as an area of interest in the last few years. As well as the Research and Policy in Development (RAPID) group at the Overseas Development Institute, London and the Knowledge Technology and Society (KNOTS) group at IDS, Sussex there has been considerable work conducted by the International Development Research Centre, Canada, the Global Development Network and the IFPRI, Washington, DC. Much work has also been done in OECD countries by the UK Centre for Evidence-based Policy and Practice.

There are numerous reasons why the study of policy making is important. It is worth noting a few at the outset. We should study policy making,

1. because of the impact that policy making processes have on the content and outcomes of policy;
2. in order to understand how and why policies change or remain the same;
3. in order to influence policy change;
4. to help those involved in policy processes to understand what they are involved in as participants;
5. because people care how decisions are made especially by governments.

There are numerous contemporary frameworks and theories of policy making. Earlier models for analysis of policy making tended to be premised on an assumption that policy making is a rational and/or linear processes that fits into a neat cycle. The cycle starts with agenda setting leading to consultation and policy formation, followed by implementation and evaluation leading back to agenda setting. However, there is increasingly acknowledgment that the policy process is not a linear one, but that it is highly iterative. As a result the rational model is now viewed as extremely unlikely and is widely derided.
The key differences between contemporary frameworks are not their constituent components, which typically overlap, but their emphasis (an emphasis on policy processes themselves or the use of research in policy processes) and implicit underlying assumptions (the extent to which it is accounted for that the policy process is/is not linear and rationale; the extent to which it is accounted for that there is/is not an absolute divide between policy makers and non-policy makers and the extent to which it accounted for that knowledge is/is not contestable).

We want to engage with researchers looking at the policy making process generally (thus moving beyond the more narrow bridging policy and research literature) but at the same time focus on the relative importance of various types of knowledge in that process. In sum, the group is not just about influencing policy change per se but ensuring there is more of a dialogue between various knowledge generators and researchers on the one hand and policy makers and policy outcomes on the other.

Objectives

This working group is in the first category of EADI working groups - 'A network of institutes and individuals to exchange information, discuss research in progress and publish completed research. Their activities may include newsletters, electronic conferences, seminars and exchanges of research.'

The group seeks to bring together those working on knowledge-policy issues across the European development research community. The aim of the group would be to contribute to contemporary debates and conduct/disseminate multi-disciplinary research on selected issues.

There is a growing literature on the relationship between knowledge, 'evidence', research and policy processes. However, there has been little systematic discussion about whether and if so how these different variables vary across different policy areas. Does for example the high level of technical expertise required to engage in trade and fiscal policy debates provide different sorts of dynamics for policy narratives, agents and context than policies on citizenship rights? Are there different hierarchies of knowledge (quantitative, qualitative, participatory/experiential) in different policy areas? In what ways might policy influencing strategies need to be tailored differently to engage in value-charged policy debates about issues such as sexual and reproductive health policy compared to infrastructure development? Do some policy issues lend themselves to greater civil society participation and engagement?

We would thus like to propose that this new group take a comparative sectoral approach to policy process research comparing experiences across different policy areas - whether that be poverty reduction policies, macro-economic policy, natural resource management or citizenship rights, etc. We propose to organize a seminar series in late 2007/early 2008 with a focus on bringing together a research and practitioner to present at each session, and a discussant. Presenters would be asked to consider a set of common questions.

Expected output/activities planned

Expected activities and outputs include:

1. A group email list;
2. A launch seminar series as noted above (substantive issues papers and to establish the research agenda and a working programme);
3. One or more meeting(s) at the EADI General Conference 2008;
4. Possible collaboration with other EADI Working Groups - perhaps a joint meetings with poverty group; TNC group, etc.;
5. Publications - to propose special issues of EJDR and/or an edited book/series.

Expected date of completion of work

Group activity and output would be reviewed annually and the future of the group considered in the usual 3 year cycle for working groups.

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