Introduction

Academic researchers are not usually ranked highly in discussions of who wields power and influence. Nevertheless, academics are vitally concerned with mapping the contours of political power, the determinants of public policy and debates over policy reform and improvement. This chapter examines the nature of academic research concerning public policy, and its direct and indirect linkages to policy debates and policy processes. We note several types of policy-related research in the social and economic sciences, and examine the ways in which academic policy advice and research outcomes have been accepted as inputs into the policy process. It has often been claimed that academics and policy practitioners are distinctive communities, and that bridging the gap is extremely difficult. There has also been a widespread debate about why academic work on policy is often invisible to policymakers or is seen as having low relevance to their needs (Cohn, 2007; Head, 2013, 2015). A strong case has been made that expertise and research evidence have distinctive dynamics for academics and practitioners in particular fields. For example, in the field of foreign policy and international relations, Gyngell and Wesley (2007) argue that there has been a disjuncture between the experience-based world of practitioners in the bureaucracy and the international relations theorising of academics. Nevertheless, there has been a notable increase in dialogue and exchange through the growth of foreign policy think tanks like the Lowy Institute.

In this chapter, we consider why academic policy research in Australia has been more influential in some policy areas than others, and how particular academics have become prominent as policy advisors or commentators. The incentives and barriers to academic engagement in contemporary policy debates are outlined, and we conclude by considering how the institutional and cultural gaps between the research sector and policymakers can be most effectively bridged.

Types of academic policy research

Academic contributions to policy analysis divide into two different orientations. As noted in Chapter One, the vast majority of academic writing about public policy in Australia has focused on the study of policy processes, whether in relation to the policymaking system as a whole or in relation to specific policy fields of high interest. At a deeper level, important research is also undertaken to explain how policy programmes and paradigms evolve over time.