The public policy theory of rational decision making would suggest that politicians and decision makers weigh up the available evidence, and take decisions to achieve the maximum benefit at the lowest possible (not just financial) cost. This implies that they have access to the full range of information needed to make the best possible decision, and that they take a long-term view of change.
In reality, there are a lot of drivers behind policy decision making, including ideology, power, and political expediency, among many others. And in the UK system, most governments struggle to take anything longer than a five-year view.
So, for those of us trying to influence policy, the question becomes one of how we can deploy the best and most persuasive evidence available.
Here are my top tips for using evidence to support your policy influencing work.
Tip 1: Demonstrate the need for change
Before you can hope to demonstrate why your proposals are the best way forward, you first need to show what problem it is that you’re trying to solve. Depending on the nature of the issue, you will need to use different types of evidence to make your case. If it’s about public expenditure, for example, you’re going to need to focus on financial and economic evidence. If it’s about the impact of a problem to people’s lives, then you’ll probably want to focus more on case studies and stories. In reality, you’re going to need a mix of evidence to be able to demonstrate that this is a problem that needs to be solved.
Tip 2: Be realistic about costs and benefits
Over the years, I have seen so many attempts to influence policy fall at the first hurdle by brandishing around outlandish and unrealistic estimates of cost or benefit. There is a huge temptation to put your biggest and scariest numbers front and centre, but there are risks involved in that. It might lead people to question the robustness of your analysis. It might also make the issue or problem that you’re trying to solve appear just too big and too complicated for any government to feel able to tackle. Break things down in to manageable and realistic chunks, and don’t make unrealistic claims about the benefits (financial or otherwise) of any particular course of action. Which brings me to tip three.
Tip 3: Economic evidence
It’s tempting to assume that economic or financial evidence is the most powerful and persuasive. Don’t get me wrong, it does play a really important role, but it’s not always the most important thing. We can all think of many examples of policy decisions that have been taken by governments that seem to have taken scant regard to the financial implications. It’s really important to think about who it is that you are trying to persuade. If your target of influence is HM Treasury, then focusing on the economic or financial evidence is obviously going to be key. If, however, you’re trying to raise awareness of a particular issue or problem, stories are likely to be just as powerful.
Tip 4: Don’t underestimate the power of people’s voices
As I mentioned in a previous post, real life stories and case studies can be among the most powerful forms of evidence. In the search for the best evidence to support your case for change, it’s all too easy to forget the importance of people’s voices. If a picture paints a thousand words, a story paints a novel. If you’re trying to build a case for change, being able to articulate both the problem that you’re trying to solve and the impact that your recommended solution will have on people is key.
Tip 5: Demonstrate how popular your proposals are
There are a number of different ways that you can do this. You might want to show cross party support (such as the endorsement or support of an All-Party Parliamentary Group). You could also think about public (voter) polling to test out the popularity of your suggestions. Two notes of caution on public polling however. Firstly, a lot depends on how you phrase the question. Working with a reputable polling company means you will be able to make sure that your results are genuinely representative of the sample you want to test. Secondly, being able to demonstrate public support for a suggestion is not, on its own, sufficient. Just because an issue may be popular with the public, it doesn’t mean that it’ll be politically achievable in policy terms. Think of the popularity of issues like the reintroduction of the death penalty for the most serious of crimes, the nationalisation of rail, or the decriminalisation of assisted dying, and you’ll see what I mean.
Tip 6: ‘Unpublished’ and ‘grey’ literature is perfectly OK
There can be a certain snobbishness among some parts of the academic community to so-called ‘unpublished’, or ‘grey’ literature (both terms that I really dislike). The subtext of this is often that such data or evidence is somehow ‘not as good’ as the published and peer-reviewed studies that appear in journals. In policy influencing terms, this is quite a naïve position to take, and demonstrates a lack of understanding in how decisions are made. This is not to denigrate academic research – it plays an absolutely vital role (a topic I may return to in a future post). What I have learnt over the years is that politicians and decision makers frequently don’t make decisions based only on the best available published literature (and are even not averse on occasion to making decisions that appear to go against the weight of published evidence!). They are just as likely to use academic evidence retrospectively to justify the decisions that they make. With this in mind, so-called unpublished data and evidence definitely has a role to play in the policy influencing toolbox.
Tip 7: Use evidence from other countries
It’s a good idea to draw on what works from other countries around the world. Are there countries or systems that have already implemented some of the ideas that you are proposing? What has their experience been, and what evidence now exists? Don’t forget that we have four countries within the UK, so there is likely to be learning close to home too.
Tip 8: Cite your sources
Citing your sources helps to build confidence in what you’re saying. How you cite your sources will depend on what it is that you are producing. For example, written evidence to a select committee will need a more rigorous approach to citation than, for example, a simple policy briefing.
Tip 9: What have you got that’s new?
If part of your strategy to influence is to utilise media coverage, the first question that your communications colleagues are likely to ask is ‘what have you got that’s new?’. If you’re trying to get a hook for a media story, it’s hard to beat the power of new evidence or data, especially if it’s combined with people’s stories and case studies.
Tip 10: Use the emotive language sparingly
When you are presenting a case for change, there is definitely a role for emotion. Afterall, you’re trying to fix a problem that matters to you and your stakeholders. However, in contextualising your evidence and data, use the emotive language quite sparingly. Not everything is an ‘outrage’ or a ‘crisis’. How you frame your evidence and data is just as important as the evidence and data itself. Afterall, you’re trying to win people over to your way of thinking.
What is your experience of using evidence to support your influencing work? What evidence do you think it the most persuasive? Let me know in the comments below.
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