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 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 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 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 universities governments research institutes publication and dissemination 4

The Making of Public Policy 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 of Education School of Public policy disciplinary department HE research centres HE conferences Offices of institutional research/government relations faculty associations (OCUFA) student associations COU OCAV U15 (and other groupings) 6

Government Provincial MTCU MRI HEQCO OUCQA Major reviews/commissions Federal Ministry of Finance Ministry of Industry Statistics Canada National granting councils CFI, CRCs, Genome Canada 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 working papers conference proceedings internet circulation websites newspapers magazines (Maclean’s, LRC) television (TVO’s The Agenda) 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