Tools for Policy Impact: A Handbook for Researchers

Civil society organisations are increasingly recognising the need to influence policy and decisionmaking processes more effectively, whether that be to represent the needs of their interest groups, or to ensure that new policies are based on sound research and evidence. This is not least true for think tank bodies. The number of think tanks worldwide has expanded rapidly over the last two decades as government becomes more receptive to evidence-based policy solutions and seeks new solutions in rapidly changing political environments. Think tank-like organisations continue to spring up all across the world, as off-shoots of university departments, programme evaluation and policy divisions of NGOs, or independent consultancies. What they all have in common is a wish to capture the political imagination; they aim to use their insight to have political impact. This handbook addresses various factors that need to be considered in this process, and provides a comprehensive selection of tools that can be used when attempting to turn research into policy influence. This work will be developed further within the RAPID programme at ODI.