A View from the University: Public Policy in Research and Teaching Linking People and Knowledge

1. 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

2. Outline • Introduction • Policy research/ Policy research community • The making of public policy • Universities • 5. Government • Research institutes • Publication and dissemination • Observations of an (economics) professor

3. 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)

4. 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

5. 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?

6. 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)

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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]

10. 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