Four Policy-making Functions

Bammer, Gabriele, Disciplining Interdisciplinarity (ANU E-Press, 2013) Ch 17 investigates how to bridge the gap from academic understanding to actual policy:

For researchers, this involves performing at least four important functions, namely:

1. Making available what is known, including what has worked and has not worked, so that policy makers and practitioners can develop effective actions

2. Providing a digest of remaining unknowns to help policy makers and practitioners take these into account in their decision making, as well as to reduce, or at least be better prepared for, unintended consequences of their initiatives

3. Providing critique of current and proposed policy and practice

4. Providing new ideas for policy and practice.