Watch the Video: Improving Academic-Government Collaboration in Evidence-Based Policymaking

“We’ve seen trust fail in many ways, especially across sectors,” said political scientist Jake Bowers in a recent online event, hosted by the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford University, addressing government-academic collaboration in evidence-based policy-making. “How do you overcome it? I think institutions help… train people on both sides how not to begin relationships with these possible negative starts and how to name and talk about incentives.” Bowers discussed how to overcome trust issues and stereotypes which hamper relationships between stakeholders.

The discussion on November 10, part of CASBS’ ongoing series Social Science for a World in Crisis, centered on the increase in evidence-based policymaking in the past few decades and how to overcome the practical, methodological, and economic barriers which remain. The event featured a live online panel discussion featuring speakers Bowers; Carrie Cihak, evidence and impact officer for the government of King County, Washington; political scientist Daniel Hopkins; and Piyush Tantia, chief innovation officer for Ideas42. Ruth Levine, the CEO of IDinsight, moderated the discussion.

Cihak spoke to the goal of increasing collaboration between academics and government officials.

“What we try to do is create forums within government where we can explore what researchers are learning and what’s emerging as they’re learning so we’re co-learning together,” she said. “That’s really helpful to researchers because we’re bringing our knowledge about the context to bear on the kinds of things that they’re looking at.”

To view other installments in the Social Science in a World in Crisis series, click here.