State (and Federal and Local) Policy Variations and Impacts: Why Government-Research Partnerships Matter

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Abstract

Government invests in research that has far more potential to inform policy decision-making and action than it - the government-funded research - has to date. Related, the current U.S. federal policy and funding context makes the role of government-research partnerships particularly timely and important. As one of this roundtable's speakers said, “Part of the answer [for us] is that partnerships matter so that we - government - can build objective, rigorous evidence to inform future policy and/or reforms for enacted policies, especially in a time of divisive rhetoric.” 

This roundtable features federal, state, and local government leaders of established government-research partnerships or who engage with government-research partnerships to accomplish their work. Each speaker and the moderator have expertise and experience in establishing partnerships and parameters for the partnerships’ success. They represent the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, the Hennepin-University Partnership (Hennepin County, Minnesota), and two previously held senior appointed positions in Massachusetts and North Carolina state governments. The policy focus areas are deliberately diverse as are the levels of government jurisdiction, funding, and decision making. This diversity of organization, level of government, and policy area is intentional for three reasons: first, a goal of the roundtable is to broaden policy scholars’ understanding of the array of topics that are a “good fit” for government-research partnership structures and focus areas; second, APPAM membership and conference attendees represent a wide range of disciplines; third, for successful partnerships between research and government “actors,” considering the existing and potential relevance and roles of all levels of government is critical to the success of government-research partnerships. 

With the APPAM theme “Fifty States, Fifty Systems: State Policy Variations and Impacts” in mind, the roundtable will focus on sharing tested and institutionalized structures for launching and sustaining partnerships for research-informed decision making and policy impact. Speakers will highlight ways in which the strategies their organizations use are broadly applicable in some respects but in other respects require tailoring to particular contexts. 

This roundtable will have three primary components:
- Discussion focused on the key – non-negotiable - characteristics of the government-research partnership structures for each featured example.
- Addressing some of the challenges that prevent more of these structures from developing and strategies for addressing those challenges.
- Specific examples of outcomes and impact that the organizations and their respective partnership structures have carried out or catalyzed.  

Organized around the three primary components noted above, the speakers will reflect on what “impact on well-being” means in the realm of state-level variation and the potential of government-research partnerships for playing a critical role in ensuring positive impact.  

Inspiration for this proposal stems from the many years of APPAM roundtables that John Hutchins (MDRC) and Jenni Owen have developed on government’s use of research and the evidence-based policy “movement.”

Policy Area

• Politics, Media, and the Policy Process

Moderator

• Jenni W. Owen, Duke University

Organizer

• Jenni W. Owen, Duke University

Speakers

• Leigh Bates, New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services

• Maggie Mesaros, Hennepin County

• Judy Wei Ya Chang, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission