Therefore, Looking Into the Question of How the Knowledge Generated By

Bringing research to bear on public policy in Latin America Rethinking the roles and challenges for policy research institutes Introduction “What happens most often is that a research project contributes to what I have called “illumination”. It perforates ancient myths, offers new perspectives and changes priority in public affairs. Research also serves to construct capacities. It is a long-term influence, in which the research capacities of researchers, or of institutions or of whole countries increase.” (Carol Weiss) by Vanesa Weyrauch It is now a common place to recognise public policy processes as complex, multidimensional, and even chaotic, phenomena in which state and non-state actors interact, frequently in various spaces simultaneously. Factors of a very diverse nature intervene in these processes: i) at the contextual level, economic, political, social and cultural factors that clearly determine the times and forms of these processes; ii) at the organisational level, features such as the predominant interests, resources and ideas of the institution; iii) at the individual level, issues like the motivations, capacities, knowledge and even emotions of the persons who meet and form shared bonds in spaces of interaction. Therefore, looking into the question of how the knowledge generated by institutions interested in influencing these processes can be brought to bear is an arduous and complex task which is difficult to undertake, unless one assumes the partiality and relativity of a great deal of learning. In this regard, the researcher in such subjects may find a first common bridge of understanding with the public official who has to make decisions recognising that the knowledge they have may offer guidance, but is not a determining factor as to the path to take. The object of this publication is to make a contribution to reflection and debate in Latin America on the roles and challenges facing policy research institutes (PRI) or think tanks when they seek to bring the knowledge they generate to bear on those responsible for public policy. It is included within the initiative “Spaces for commitment: using knowledge to improve public policy in favour of the poor”, implemented by CIPPEC in Latin America thanks to the support of the Global Development Network (GDNet) and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), through the Evidence-Based Policy Network1. The principal aim of the initiative is to use knowledge management to improve the link between research and policy (BRP or Bridging Research and Policy) in Latin America by means of the creation of a plural and active community of practice, to include both PRI representatives and public officials interested in incorporating evidence into public decision-making. The essential idea is to promote and deepen the debate on how to strengthen the link between research and 1 For further information see http://www.ebpdn.org/index.php. policy and help improve the way in which actors mutually commit to it. It is based on the conviction that better interventions in the use of research in policy can lead to more effective public policy in favour of the poor in the region. Generating research on this subject is one of the varied strategies to progress in the objectives posed above. Evidence, lessons and unanswered questions thrown up by the case studies and the comparative analysis included in this publication should be starting points from which to rethink and improve the daily practices of those persons and organisations interested in promoting the use of evidence in public policy processes. This means that they do not merely shed light on questions which are significant for the PRI, but that they also contribute with opportune reflections for researchers in general and for officials committed to improving the incorporation of research into public decision-making. They are four case studies (in Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador and Uruguay) made with the aim of identifying, describing and analysing concrete experiences of interaction between a PRI and a State agency to use research and/or evidence in the design, implementation, monitoring or evaluation of a social policy. A brief description of these cases follows: 1) Case 1: What impacts has the participatory budget process of Paysandú, Uruguay, had on relations between the departmental government and local society? By Viviana Martínez. The aim of this investigation was to identify the main contributions made to the Local Development Programme of the Project of the Latin American Centre of Human Economics, (CLAEH-GDP) in the process to strengthen citizen participation in the framework of the Participatory Budget (PB) of Paysandú in 2007. The project was carried out as part of the Local Development Programme of the CLAEH, which seeks to find a space for citizen participation through the Participatory Budget (for the period 2005 to 2008). In this particular case, qualitative methodology with an exploratory design was used. Sources of secondary information were collected and analysed, interviews were held, together with participatory observation of the elective Participatory Budget process; and finally assessment and diagnostic workshops were organised. The players involved were members of local society and municipal government (project representatives, local councillors, functionaries). After analysing the results of the PB process, reflections were made on the progress achieved in preparing social projects that contribute to the development of the community, and on opinions and perceptions as to progress in the process. This has thus led to the generation of knowledge to allow the Paysandú Departmental Government to make decisions on strengthening the PB process, and specific lines of action have been identified to promote a greater involvement of local society in the process. 2) Case 2: Impact of the scientific production of the Inter Trade Union Department of Statistics and Socio-economic Studies (DIEESE) in implementing specific public policy for the protection of the quality of employment by Brazil’s Ministry of Labour. By María Rosa Gamarra. The purpose of this case study was to identify, describe and analyse joint experiences between the DIEESE (Inter-Syndicate Department of Socio-Economic Statistics and Studies) and the Brazilian Ministry of Labour as regards improving labour policies in that country. The intention was to explain and illustrate the use of research and/or evidence in the design, monitoring and assessment of the protection of the quality of employment in Brazil by qualitative methodology. On the basis of interviews with members of the DIEESE, the Ministry of Labour and the team processing the secondary information sources, the report analyses the incidence of this organisation in identifying problems to be solved in the field of employment in Brazil and in the design of policies to be implemented by the Ministry of Labour. The study of this case places particular emphasis on the identity of the DIEESE (origin, mandate, circumstances and experience), on the history of the joint initiative between both institutions and on the national context, as relevant factors in allowing research to have a bearing on labour policies in that country and to be a useful tool in implementing them. 3) Case 3: External assessment of the Community Centre Development Programme of the Government of Jalisco, Mexico, conducted by El Colegio de Jalisco (ColJal). By Roberto Arias de la Mora and Alberto Arellano Ríos. This investigation, which describes the institutional linkage between a government agency of a subnational sphere (Secretariat of Human Development of the Government of Jalisco) and a local research and higher education centre (El Colegio de Jalisco), tells the story of how both organisations cooperated in the formulation and implementation of the Community Centre Development Programme in Jalisco. The study was based fundamentally on the endogenous and exogenous factors that led to collaboration between the two bodies, with the SHD designing the public policy and the ColJal taking responsibility for the monitoring and assessment phases of the impacts, thus facilitating and improving the public policy formulation process. This report highlights the reality faced by institutions dedicated to research and by government agencies when working together. It sheds light on problems in the civil service in Latin America, and on the institutional weakness that remains in the subnational spheres of government and which restricts the possibilities that could be reached by bringing both sectors together. 4) Case 4: Neither gifts nor blackmail in exchange for your vote: Realising social, economic and cultural rights by means of combating political clientelism in social programmes in Ecuador. By Orazio Bellettini and Melanie Carrión. This study analyses the experience undertaken in Ecuador between the Grupo Faro and public administration in combating clientelism in nine social programmes in the country. On the one hand, the investigation includes an empirical theoretical debate on the subject of clientelism, and then discusses the practical experience of this case, especially the successful linkage between the investigation conducted by civil society and intervention in social programmes. Using qualitative methodology, the study is based on interviews with the Grupo Faro team, civil society organizations and the administrators of the social programmes, and on the analysis of documented information. It identifies internal and external factors

Load more