How to be heard.

Abstract

Paul Cairney, a political scientist at the University of Stirling in the United Kingdom, has a message for those who want facts and research findings to guide policy. 9Evidence based policy making9 is a good political slogan, but not a good description of the policy process, he writes on his blog, which has become a popular read for policy wonks (paulcairney.wordpress.com). If you expect to see it, you will be disappointed. It9s a typically blunt assessment from Cairney, who last year published a well-received book entitled The Politics of Evidence-Based Policy Making . But his goal isn9t to discourage efforts to inject evidence into statecraft; rather, he aims to arm scientists with some nuggets of political theory and psychology that might help them do better. In a recent interview, Cairney offered some do9s and don9ts for getting involved.