History & policy: A decade of bridge-building in the United Kingdom

TY - JOUR

T1 - History & policy

T2 - A decade of bridge-building in the United Kingdom

AU - Delap, Lucy

AU - Szreter, Simon

AU - Warde, Paul

PY - 2014/1/1

Y1 - 2014/1/1

N2 - In this article, we examine the experience of History 8c Policy, (www.his- toryandpolicy.org), an organisation set up a decade ago in Britain to enable insights from academic historians to inform policymaking processes. We firstly address the manner in which historians can contribute to 'evidence-based' policymaking, both as providers of historical information as antecedents and analogues, and bringing specific skills in handling narrative, synthesis of diverse evidence, and communication. We then examine the work of History 8c Policy itself, in encouraging historians to make their specialised research available in a digestible form as policy papers, and reflecting on the significance of their own work for a broader audience. Surveying the organisations own history, we consider the lessons learned from a decade of publication and developing face-to face ties with policymakers in government and elsewhere, and provide a case study of the influence of a historians work on development policy relating to the issue of population registration. This leads to conclusions on the painstaking work of building up a profile and contacts, the importance of communications specialists in engaging with the contemporary policy world (and related media), and the contributions history can make to policy.

AB - In this article, we examine the experience of History 8c Policy, (www.his- toryandpolicy.org), an organisation set up a decade ago in Britain to enable insights from academic historians to inform policymaking processes. We firstly address the manner in which historians can contribute to 'evidence-based' policymaking, both as providers of historical information as antecedents and analogues, and bringing specific skills in handling narrative, synthesis of diverse evidence, and communication. We then examine the work of History 8c Policy itself, in encouraging historians to make their specialised research available in a digestible form as policy papers, and reflecting on the significance of their own work for a broader audience. Surveying the organisations own history, we consider the lessons learned from a decade of publication and developing face-to face ties with policymakers in government and elsewhere, and provide a case study of the influence of a historians work on development policy relating to the issue of population registration. This leads to conclusions on the painstaking work of building up a profile and contacts, the importance of communications specialists in engaging with the contemporary policy world (and related media), and the contributions history can make to policy.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84903585911&partnerID=8YFLogxK

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84903585911

SN - 0036-5483

VL - 80

SP - 97

EP - 118

JO - Scandia

JF - Scandia

IS - 1

ER -