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Top 20: Public Policy Topics

This list comprises, in no particular order, the topics on the mind of faculty, staff, and students as we finish up 2019 and head into a new decade and the 2020 elections. Many experts at Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy experts weighed in on these topics this year. 

Michigan leaders worried about possible effects of next recession “While no one knows when the next recession will hit or how bad it will be, the economic growth clock is ticking.” – Thomas Ivacko, associate director of the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy

Stevenson debunks five myths about the Fed in Washington Post “When we look at the data, we are not seeing how inflation and unemployment move in response to market forces; instead, we are seeing the Fed actively trying to keep inflation near its 2 percent target. So the relationship now reflects the Fed either undershooting or overshooting its rate.”  – Betsey Stevenson, professor of public policy; professor of economics

10% Happier: Stevenson and Wolfers talk wealth inequality and redistribution on NewsHour

“Rich people are happier than poor people, and that’s true all the way along economic distribution.” – Justin Wolfers, professor of public policy; professor of economics

“Increases in income keep making you happier, but they’re making you happier at a decreasing rate.” – Betsey Stevenson, professor of public policy; professor of economics

Wolfers’ take on Trump’s tariffs “The United States is still less protectionist than it has been throughout most of its history or than most nations are today.” – Justin Wolfers, professor of public policy; professor of economics

Environment

Democratic presidential candidates’ climate change proposals may be unrealistic, says Rabe “What this would look like, and how this would work, probably hasn’t been talked about at the dinner table in most communities. What we don’t know is whether the nominee will stay the course and keep the plan, or hedge and dial back.” – Barry Rabe, Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy; Arthur F. Thurnau Professor; professor of environmental policy; professor of political science; professor of the environment

Utilities have little financial incentive to plug methane leaks “The overwhelming lesson we’ve taken from doing this research is that the price regulations we’ve relied on in the natural gas distribution sector are out of date, given our current understanding of methane’s role in climate change.” – Catherine Hausman, assistant professor of public policy

Alternative Energy

Sarah Mills work featured on This is Michigan “Wind turbines fit better in some communities than others. It depends on what their development goals are.” – Sarah Mills, senior project manager at the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy

Artificial Intelligence

Parthasarathy talks algorithms place in the criminal justice system “Technology is not neutral. Even when we think about how data is collected and stored and how we measure things, even that in and of itself has a bias.” – Shobita Parthasarathy, professor and director of the Science, Technology and Public Policy Program

Cyberattacks

Cyberattacks are major risk in elections, warns Ford School PhD “Malware seeks to steal, block or alter data. It’s the kind of code used to steal your passwords or credit card numbers. And it can also steal your vote.” – Ford School doctoral student Nadiya Kostyuk and Kenneth Geers, senior fellow with the Atlantic Council

Driverless Vehicles

Ford’s Robert Hampshire forecasts the future of autonomous vehicles Given the approximation that “autonomous vehicles averaged one disengagement [emergency scenario] every 5,000 miles…you’d need around 50,000 to 100,000 employees, distributed city by city. A network like that could operate as a subscription service, or it could be a government entity, similar to today’s air traffic control system.” – Robert Hampshire, associate professor of public policy and a research associate professor in both the U-M Transportation Research Institute’s (UMTRI) Human Factors group and Michigan Institute for Data Science (MIDAS)

Current Political Environment

Axelrod talks “don’t fall into the zero-sum trap” and other lessons on podcast “The biggest lesson for me is don’t fall into the zero-sum trap. Whenever we think of things as a rivalry or a competition, we tend to immediately fall into the simple-minded thinking that it’s a zero-sum game…it’s usually opportunities that are mutually advantageous that are overlooked if you take that approach.” – Robert Axelrod, member of the National Academy of Sciences and former MacArthur Prize Fellow,  Walgreen Professor for the Study of Human Understanding at the University of Michigan. Axelrod has appointments in the Department of Political Science and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.

National Debt

Lowering national debt is as easy as 1, 2, $4.95 billion! “The longer we wait to do so, the more burden the current generation will have to take on compared to the baby boomer generation.” – Tyler Evilsizer, Deputy Policy Director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) and guest speaker at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

Immigration

Withdrawing from the Flores Agreement could keep immigration lawyers in dark, Vieux says “We’re going to see a lot more people detained for longer periods of time in facilities that are not licensed, and significant physical- and mental-health ramifications for the children that we serve.” – Hardy Vieux (MPP/JD ’97), Towsley Policymaker in Residence at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and vice president, legal at Human Rights First

Health Care

Iovan and Lantz discuss their latest research on super-utilizers “There are two major reasons behind the drive to reduce emergency care use. First, the emergency department is not the best place to receive primary care. Super-utilizers use the ED for a number of reasons other than having a medical emergency.” – Paula Lantz, associate dean for Academic Affairs; professor of Public Policy, James B. Hudak Professor of Health Policy

“Many studies of super-utilizers find that health care use and costs go down the year after the intervention. However, a big problem is that we see this even without an intervention. This is in part because the people in the ‘super-utilizer’ group change somewhat from year to year.”- Samantha Iovan, staff at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

“We really want to stress the importance of conducting more high-quality evaluation research in this area. These patients certainly have many medical and social needs that have to be addressed, but the current research literature does not provide the evidence to support claims that super-utilizer interventions that are spreading across health care systems are actual working.” – Mahshid Abir, Department of Emergency Medicine at U-M Medical School

Shaefer warns of Medicaid work requirement risks “This should include the highest-quality experimental or quasi-experimental testing of employment, health outcomes and economic impact. Doing so would set Michigan apart in its commitment to really understanding the full impact of work requirements.” – H. Luke Shaefer, PhD, director of Poverty Solutions at U-M, and associate professor at the University of Michigan, School of Social Work, and Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and Marianne Udow-Phillips, executive director of the Center for Health and Research Transformation

Ivacko discusses opioid interventions on Michigan Radio “If they don’t have someone to turn to or a helping hand in these difficult times, it’s just that much harder for them to try to take a step forward.” – Thomas Ivacko, associate director of the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy

Levitsky warns of consequences from marijuana legalization in Michigan “Keeping marijuana products away from vulnerable youth will require more vigilance and state and local intervention than when marijuana was banned.” – Melvyn Levitsky, professor of international policy and practice at the Ford School, and Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM)

Ivacko makes sense of the recreational marijuana ‘haze’ If a chief of police or county sheriff feels it’s important to follow federal law, and a county administrator or a city mayor feels it’s important to follow state law, well, that’s a tough place to be for public officials. And so, opting out, you know, is a way to avoid those kinds of challenges.” – Thomas Ivacko, associate director of the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy

National Security

Ali proposes a commission to fight domestic terror “Our country still faces the possibility of additional attacks that will raise the same questions about why the government is not doing more to stop the violence.” – Javed Ali, a Towsley Policymaker in Residence at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and Josh Kirshner, former special assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security

Scott Atran et al look at cognitive triggers for extremist violence through brain scans “In this new effort, we sought to learn more about what goes on in the minds of people who have expressed a willingness to die for a cause that is based on sacred values—in this case, sympathizers of an Al-Qaeda associate called Lashkar-et Taiba.” – Scott Atran, adjunct research professor

Pilkauskas finds Earned Income Tax Credit helps low-income moms live on their own “The rule of thumb is that it is generally good to pay less than 30% of your income in rent—but in our study, half of mothers paid more than 50% of their earnings on rent. Increasing the EITC by $1,000 reduced severe housing cost burdens by 5 percentage points.” – Natasha Pilkaukas, assistant professor of public policy

Poverty Solutions & CLOSUP new report find local officials believe many Michigan residents struggle to make ends meet “Economic recovery across Michigan in the wake of the Great Recession has been uneven.  Despite a very low unemployment rate, this survey finds poverty and economic hardship are widespread and common challenges exist in all kinds of communities.” – Tom Ivacko, associate director of the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy

Natasha Pilkaukas’ research on three-generation household receives Michigan Minds spotlight “I’m really interested in thinking about what we can do to help children thrive. Who is in the household matters for kids.” – Natasha Pilkaukas, assistant professor of public policy

Higher Education

Dynarski’s work on school day SAT testing cited in Inside Higher Ed analysis of the 2019 test results “Universal testing alone will not get disadvantaged students into college. But it produces small, discernible increases in college attendance, especially at four-year colleges.” – Susan Dynarski, a professor of public policy, education and economics

Seefeldt offers insight on student debt trends on Michigan Radio “So while [these students] may be qualifying for financial aid, financial aid has not kept pace with rising college costs. So you have students who have more need, but the types of grants and aid we can give them is just not there.” – Kristin Seefeldt, professor of public policy and social work

Jason Owen-Smith warns of “serious risks” when universities cater to an industry “I think a narrow focus that closely aligns university work with near-term business needs is perilous.” – Jason Owen-Smith, professor of sociology and public policy

Alternative Transportation

Hampshire receives National Science Foundation Convergence Accelerator grant Robert Hampshire, associate professor of public policy at the Ford School and associate research professor at Michigan Institute for Data Science (MIDAS), was awarded a $948,182 grant by the National Science Foundation’s Convergence Accelerator (C-Accel) to study how all Americans’ quality of life and economic prosperity can be improved by recent transportation innovations like ridesourcing and driverless vehicles.

K-12 Education

More harm than good? Professor Brian Jacob criticizes the continued turnover of accountability systems for Michigan schools I think we need more stability in the political and policy environment…to allow the people on the ground to focus on the actual work at hand.” – Brian Jacob, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Education Policy; professor of public policy; professor of economics; professor of education

Infrastructure

Leiser and Mills contribute to resources for new Michigan Lead and Copper Rule “As part of a project led by the University of Michigan’s Water Center and funded by the C.S. Mott Foundation, we have explored some of the challenges associated with financing LSL replacement under the revised Lead and Copper Rule.” – Sarah Mills, senior project manager at the Ford School’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) and Stephanie Leiser, lecturer at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

Who makes the call? Thacher and Gillooly advocate for 911 operator training “There is a lot of ambiguity on the part of callers, and it would rarely be appropriate to criminally punish them, because there are just so many judgment calls.” – David Thacher, associate professor of public policy and urban planning

“Operators need agency support to train them on how to handle such callers, and protocols about when calls can be appropriately rejected so as to reduce operators’ liability.” – Jessica Gillooly, PhD student

Voter Turnout and Election Reform

Yusuf Neggers discusses latest research with VoxDev “We might think that these information constraints are particularly important in rural areas where you have lower literacy rates and probably lower penetration from radio, television, newspapers, that might otherwise provide information.” – Yusuf Neggers, an assistant professor of public policy

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Articles on Public policy

Displaying 1 - 20 of 147 articles.

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Voters don’t always have final say – state legislatures and governors are increasingly undermining ballot measures that win

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Colonial ideas have kept NZ and Australia in a rut of policy failure. We need policy by Indigenous people, for the people

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Sharon Bessell , Australian National University

Listening to young people could help reduce pandemic-related harms to children

Tammy Chang , University of Michigan and Jonathan Todres , Georgia State University

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Kaaren Mathias , University of Canterbury and Sarah Lovell , University of Canterbury

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Research Methods for Public Policy

• Open Access
• First Online: 19 October 2022

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• Susan Mbula Kilonzo 3 &
• Ayobami Ojebode 4  

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This chapter examined the nature of public policy and role of policy analysis in the policy process. It examines a variety of research methods and their use in public policy engagements and analysis for evidence-informed policymaking. It explains qualitative methods, quantitative methods, multiple and mixed-method research. Other issues addressed include causal research in public policy, report writing and communication and related issues in public policy research.

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Qualitative Methods for Policy Analysis: Case Study Research Strategy

Perspectives on Policy Analysis: A Framework for Understanding and Design

Social Research and Public Policy: Some Cautionary Notes

Introduction.

As implied by the topic, this chapter focuses on research methods applied or applicable in public policy research. Though the overriding focus is on specific research methods, we deemed it necessary to preface these with a brief discussion of the nature of public policy research and the nature of policy-engaged research problem or question. These are then followed by the specific research approaches or traditions and methods as applied to public policy. Given that public policy research deals with issues that have important implications for the society, the mixed-method research is often preferred as a means of arriving at findings and conclusion concrete and reliable enough to serve as a basis for policy. For this reason, we devoted a section to mixing methods in public policy research. This chapter is thus divided into four sections:

Nature of public policy research

The policy-engaged research problem or question,

Specific public policy research approaches and methods, and

Mixing methods in public policy research.

In the first section, we focus on the definitive characteristics of the kind of research that supports or evokes public policy, especially the solution-orientation of such research. In the second section, we focus on what it means for research to be policy-engaged—which is different from being policy-relevant. We propose the nature and source of a good problem or question for policy-engaged research and its basic design. In the third section, we focus on the two broad traditions of research: qualitative and quantitative traditions, and the specific methods under these traditions. We explain how these methods are used in public policy research using both hypothetical and existing examples. In the last section, we discuss mixing research methods in public policy research, stressing the reasons for it and summing up the process of doing it.

Nature of Public Policy Research

Public policy research is one whose primary aim is to understand or explain social, political, economic, cultural and other issues that are significant to the society and which require the intervention or attention of policy actors. In providing an understanding of such issues, the research also presents itself as a trustable basis for the actions and interventions of these policy actors. It must, therefore, be a piece of research based on sound evidence, produced out of convincing rigour and woven from start to finish around a societal issue of concern.

In addition to being thorough and trustable, public policy research must also go beyond describing a problem or situation into engaging the how and why of things (Osifo 2015 : 149) for it to establish causality with reference to a given problem and the options of addressing such a problem. Descriptive studies do sometimes provide an important basis for policy; however, causal studies often interest and command the attention of policy actors more than descriptive ones do.

A good public policy research is sensitive to both the policy and political agenda. These two environments or elements determine action or inaction. Howlett ( 2012 : 451) argues for an approach that encourages absorption of research outputs at two levels: enhancing instrumental arguments about policy programme content and ensuring a deeper political engagement experience.

Though policy makers do not entirely depend on research to make decisions on policy options (Edwards 2004 ; UK Cabinet Office 2009 ), the role of research, and specifically field-based research, in public policy remains critical (Mead 2005 ; Young 2005 ). Since scholarly research competes with expert knowledge, domestic and international policy, stakeholder consultations and evaluation of previous policies, among other sources (UK Cabinet 1999), evidence generated from research that is meant to inform public policy needs a strong basis for argument on the problem under scrutiny, as well as a variety of policy options from field evidence.

Recent studies show that research in policymaking over the last four decades plays a less direct role than is often assumed and expected (Howlett 2012 ). Nevertheless, the role of research in public policy is not to be downplayed, and as Mead ( 2005 : 535) explains, field research is essential to realistic policy research that ties governmental action to good outcomes. However, we need to take cognizance of the fact that, as Tierney and Clemens ( 2011 ) argue, many of today’s most pressing policy issues are extraordinarily complex and will benefit from carefully conceived and analysed studies utilizing multiple methodological approaches. Public policy researchers should understand this complexity of policy problems. This complex web determines, to a great extent, what forms of research and/or research methods a researcher should consider.

Literature shows that in the history of public policy research, statistical evidence was very important (Mead 2005 ). Studies meant to inform policy were therefore mostly, if not always, survey-based (Mead 2005 ). Survey-based research, as Mead ( 2005 : 544) shows, is good at generating accurate depictions of the clientele served by a given policy. Social problems and their correlates can be clearly captured. Earlier approaches to policy research favoured output that could be generalized across settings that were validated and reliable. In those early approaches, quantitative research, especially survey, was given priority. Qualitative research did not so much move into policy arena and research evidence from qualitative studies did not seem to find a place in policy discussion tables (Tierney and Clemens 2011 : 59).

Over the years, survey-based approach has been criticized for its narrow economistic approach because social problems are complex. The argument is that survey-based policy research projects onto its subjects, the psychology assumed by the quantitative researcher. Simply put on its own, the approach lacks the ability to explain why and how complex social problems arise, and what public policies would best be suited to address them in their complexity. Surveys, for instance, may not give the full range of information required to account for the behaviours of the poor, needy and dependent persons in certain circumstances. These people, though challenged by certain economic factors, can survive in difficult circumstances, but the how and why of their survival would be beyond the easy reach of survey. Thus, as Mead ( 2005 ) argues, there is need for a more complex and robust approach that incorporates those factors that are beyond the statistics. We argue that for a public policy research to claim authenticity of findings that capture the attention of policy makers, and subsequently inform the policy process, an integration of research methods, that is, mixed-method design, is important.

Public policy research is meant to provide solutions to social and public problems that are in many ways complex. Establishing causes and effects of these problems run beyond analysis of existing policies. Mead ( 2013 ), for instance, argues:

[Where] texts in public policy devote attention to both policy analysis and political analysis; they fail to capture the intimate connection between them. The two subjects appear as separate worlds, when they are really two sides of the same coin. The texts do not consider that political constraints should really be part of policy argument or that the policy-making process can sharply limit what best policy means. And in research on public policy, there is even less sense of policy and politics shaping and reshaping each other. Typically, the usual division prevails where economists recommend best policy while political scientists explain what government does. (p. 393)

These views relate to the policy and politics dichotomy, and how political analysis is good in reshaping policy analysis (Mead 2013 : 392). While it is important to pay attention in public policy research to how these two influence each other, it is also important to pay careful attention to the stakeholders. Good research methods for public policy should engage stakeholders in the research process to enhance the use of the research findings and recommendations for effective policies. Besides the policy makers, policy actors include the public, which is always at the receiving end of the end products of public policy research are important. Consultations with them at most, if not all levels, help researchers to articulate policies that include their ideas or address their concerns (Oxman et al. 2009 ) and result in the good policy performance.

The Policy-Engaged Research Problem/Question

With reference to their level of policy engagement, public policy research in Africa can be categorized into three: public policy-appended research, commissioned policy research and public policy analysis. Public policy-appended research is the most common of the three. For most African researchers, there is a mandatory section of their article or thesis that presents policy recommendations. In that section, researchers attempt to point out how their research findings can be applied to real-life policy situations and consequently change those situations for the better. Efforts are made by experienced researchers to ensure a close fit between the recommendations and the findings that precede it in the article or thesis. As common as this genre of public policy research is, it is a flawed approach for many reasons. The approach treats policy not as the centre of the research but as an appendage. Put differently, the researcher decides her or his research problem and question and decides on the methods most suitable for this. At the conclusion of the research, she or he then turns to policy actors with recommendations. Since the research was not informed by a policy need or gap, it can hardly fit into the existing agenda and conversations among policy actors. It neither speaks the language of policy actors nor considers their priorities. The researcher would not have attempted to include policy actors at most, if not all, stages of the research, and as we will discuss shortly, there are consequences of not doing this. It also assumes that policy actors (i.e. policy makers, civil society and other stakeholders, including citizens) are on the lookout for policy recommendations from researchers and can wade through the different sections of the research to find these recommendations. As Oyedele, Atela and Ojebode ( 2017 ) opined, this is hardly so. The researcher’s research is her or his business, not that of the policy actors. As a result, policy actors do not access the tonnes of policy recommendations made by researchers.

Commissioned public policy research projects are initiated by government agencies and non-governmental organizations to address specific policy or implementation problem. The driving research question and the nature of the expected findings are articulated by the commissioning organization. A critical objection to this genre of public policy research is researcher’s autonomy on crucial fronts. To what extent can a researcher turn out findings that conflict with the political aspirations and public image of the funding government or its agency? How can the researcher be sure that his or her findings are not spun or twisted in favour of government? Therefore, while the findings and recommendations of this genre of public policy research are likely to be more easily accepted by policy actors than the findings of public policy-appended research, there is usually a cloud of doubt around its objectivity and integrity.

A third genre of public policy research deals with policy analysis . These studies take on an existing policy and subject its components to critical analysis often conjecturing whether it would produce expected results. They explore inconsistencies, systemic barriers and feasibility of a policy, and then draw conclusions as to why a policy works or does not. They may serve as formative or summative studies depending on when they are conducted in the life cycle of a policy. The challenge of this approach to public policy research has been that the researcher/analyst is basically tied to the outcomes of policies in existence—policies that he or she did not play a role in formulating.

The foregoing genres of public policy research are, at best, only partially policy-engaged. They may be policy-relevant, but they are not policy-engaged. So, the questions for us here are: What is policy-engaged research? How does it differ from policy analysis, commissioned public policy research and public policy-appended research? What is it that the other three misses out that policy-engaged research is good for? And how do we then design research in a way that the methods used are relevant in informing the public policymaking processes?

A policy-engaged piece of research derives its roots from the questions that are being asked in policy circles. As a response to current public policy issues, it is driven by a research question that explores, extends or clarifies a policy question or problem. Policy-engaged research therefore means bringing on board the stakeholders relevant in the development of a given public policy (Lemke and Harris-Wai 2015 ), whether their role is interest or influence. This means that there is an all-round way of understanding the problem that the policy is intended to solve and the politics surrounding the decision-making process.

It is important for a researcher to understand in policy-engaged research, is the need to tailor the research in a way that the policy options suggested are practical. This is because, a policy attempts to solve or prevent a problem, or scale up progress, and policy actors are interested in “what works”. In other words, they are keen about what causes an outcome or makes things happen. A piece of public policy research would, therefore, do well if it were causal, rather than descriptive.

There are two fundamental characteristics of a public policy research problem or question: First, it should explore cause, outcome, and/or causal mechanism in relation to an existing policy or a policy action it intends to propose. In exploring these, the researcher can tease out the specific factors that are responsible for a certain policy problem/issue (outcome) and have conclusive findings from which to confidently suggest specific points of intervention in a policy progression. For instance, if the researcher discovers that misinformation is the cause of vaccine rejection, then he or she knows better than to suggest increased procurement of vaccines but would rather suggest media campaigns or community meetings to increase citizens’ awareness of that vaccination. If, in exploring the mechanism between misinformation and rejection, she discovers that misinformation leads to cognitive dissonance which then leads citizens to seek clarification from traditional birth attendants who then counsels them to abstain from vaccination and whom they then obey by rejecting the vaccination, she is further equipped to make pointed suggestion on which point in the chain to focus intervention or “tweaking”. Public policy research without such causal information can easily become a shot in the dark.

Second, the public policy research problem should resonate with the questions that policy actors are asking as well as the questions that they should be asking. While it is important for the public policy research question to evolve from policy questions, it is also important to note that policy questions are sometimes wrong or inadequate. Put bluntly, policy actors sometimes do not ask the right questions. It is, therefore, important for the researcher to identify these policy questions and give them the needed redirection. Policy actors, for instance, may be asking if the gap between male and female children about access to education is narrowing or widening following the adoption of an affirmative action policy in favour of the girl child. Whereas this is an important question, it is not likely to reveal information that is specific enough to be a basis for the right adjustment of the policy. It is not only simply descriptive but also narrow and unworthy of much research. The researcher should push harder with questions of cause, outcome and causal mechanism about the male-female disparity in access to education in this case. Has the policy produced a narrowing of the gap? If not, why has it not? What skills or resources are lacking that account for this lack of narrowing? Or what historical, religious or cultural factors combine or act alone to ensure continuity of the gap despite the policy? The public policy research question may not be the exact one that policy actors are asking, but it is indeed a vital extension and reflection of the policy question.

When we have public policy research problems that are unrelated to the problems that policy actors have, the consequence can be predicted. We will come up with findings that may be scientifically sound but unattractive to policy actors. Such findings will have little or no uptake. This approach speaks to the disconnection which a vast amount of literature points out—the disconnection between researchers and policy makers (Edwards 2004 : 2; Young 2005 : 730–1; Saetren 2005 ). When we ask public policy research questions that are not causal, the consequence can as well be predicted—our findings will not be convincing or informing enough to move policy actors to targeted action. Ultimately, questions that are not in line with the policy makers, and non-causal questions, render our research simply as just another piece of research for its sake.

A research question largely dictates its own research design. The type of research question we advocate above implies an iterative approach that begins with policy actors and finally returns to them. It also implies a specific kind of methods. It is a back-and-forth movement that considers the concerns of the actors as the fulcrum. In addition to being iterative, the design is also causal. The stages given below may apply (Fig. 4.1 ).

Approach to designing policy research

The way in which research is designed determines the ability of the researcher to claim causal conclusions (Bachman 2007 ). This is important for it gives indication to policy makers on what influential factors lead to what outcomes. If this is not known, making relevant policy decisions is always not possible.

Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Public Policy Research

In this section, we explain the commonly used qualitative and quantitative research methods for public policy.

Qualitative Methods in Public Research

Briefly stated, qualitative methods aim at providing deeper perspectives, attitudes, perceptions and contextual insights that surround the issue under investigation as experienced and understood by those living through it. The outcome of qualitative methods is usually the verbalized thoughts and viewpoints of the subjects of investigation rather than numbers or statistics. The following are some of the research methods used in qualitative research. Note that each of these methods applies a wide range of tools to collect data.

Historical and Archival Research

Libraries and archives store historical information in many forms including diaries, pictures, documents, minutes and artefacts, among others. These mean that they might have been stored as primary or secondary data. Historical or archival information that can be considered as primary is that which was collected from the author or field and stored in its original form without undergoing any form of analysis and change. Such may include minutes, diaries, pictures, artefacts, personal memoirs, autobiographies and others of the same nature. Any historical information that has gone through any studies or analysis then becomes secondary data. These may include journals, books and magazines, among others.

When a researcher wants to use historical and archival data, the aim is to research on the past and already existing information. However, historical and archival research does not always mean deriving data from the archives. A policy researcher may design a historical study in which they endeavour to visit the field and collect data from knowledgeable individuals concerning a certain historical issue of policy concern. They may partly engage documents from archives or libraries to historicize, contextualize and corroborate the issue under research. It is also the nature of many parliamentary researchers to “mine” data from parliamentary libraries/archives, some of which contain data that is classified as primary data.

Historical data is important in public policy, for it helps researchers situate their arguments within existing narratives, contexts and prior solutions suggested for policy problems. Roche ( 2016 ) argues that making assumptions about the ease with which historical research can be done is misleading. He advises that knowledge of context and a sequential approach should be given ascendance in the researcher’s priority. The researcher should be aware of chronology of information to clearly provide a coherent picture of the policy issue at hand. This implies that the past information should be relatable to the most current. With the advent in technology, most data are now digitalized, and as such, it is easy to get information from the Internet.

Archives are used to store vital government records such as personal letters, diaries, minutes, logbooks, plans, maps, photographs, among others, that easily qualify to be analysed as primary data (Roche 2016 : 174). Roche ( 2016 : 183–4) notes the challenge of fragmentation and partial availability of archival documents. He further alludes to technical challenges of the clarity of some of archival data. He cites examples of materials that were handwritten a while back and which may be ineligible. Historical and archival research apply both desk-based methods and interview techniques of data collection. Photography can also be used.

Ethnographic Methods

Ethnographic approach to research studies communities in their natural setting to understand their activities, behaviour, attitudes, perspectives and opinions within their social surrounding (Brewer 2000 ). To do so, ethnography entails close association with the research communities and sometimes participation in their activities (Brewer 2000 : 17). In fact, the commonly used methods of data collection in ethnography are participant (and sometimes non-participant) observation. The former allows for the researcher to get involved in the activities of the communities, while the latter is designed for the researcher to observe from the periphery. As Brewer argues, it is this day-to-day involvement in people’s activities that enable the researcher to make sense of the social worldviews of the research participants.

Non-participant observation describes a research situation where a researcher does not take part in the processes, events or activities that he or she is observing but removes himself or herself from the happenings to critically observe from a distance. This has challenges especially if the observed become aware of intrusion and subsequently alter their behaviour (Hawthorne effect). Sometimes the researcher may structure the observations or decide to use unstructured observations. The two differ in the sense of planning on the observation activities. For the structured type, the researcher has in mind what they want to observe and as such have a list and indications of what they would like to see. Take, for instance, a study on access to water meant to contribute to a water policy. A researcher may choose to observe how (many) times is water served at certain water points; how many people queue for the water in each of these servings; and this is likely to tell the researcher whether the water points are enough or otherwise. In unstructured observation, the researcher gets into the field with a research idea but without the specifics of that nature of data they expect from the field. Qualitative interview methods such as oral interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) may apply where necessary during ethnography. Note taking is often applied as well.

Phenomenology

This method focuses on lived experiences of a given phenomenon by an individual or a group of individuals. Individuals can describe their views and opinions about the phenomenon in question (Johnson and Christensen 2014 ). Research on fertility issues can target women who either have or do not have children, depending on what the researcher wants to unearth, with individual women providing their lived experiences on the issue under investigation. Phenomenology is also applicable when writing biographies (an account of someone’s life written by someone else). Generally, life histories, personal testimonies and experiences are best collected through this method. This implies that oral in-depth interviews and desk-based methods of data collection are important in understanding the stories in question.

Narrative Method

A narrative is a story that structures human activity to give it some form of meaning (Elçi and Devran 2014 ). Research that applies the narrative method encourages the research participants to tell their stories around a certain issue. The researcher listens to the stories and uses them to make informed analysis on the issue at hand. A researcher concerned about experiences of people living in zones of conflicts may ask questions that elicit stories of the victims or perpetrators of violence and present these in narrative form. Researchers who use phenomenology method often apply use of narratives, but not always. Phenomenological research may not rely on story telling alone. A researcher may use desk-based method to gain perspectives of the target communities as well.

Case Studies

A case study is an intensive analysis of a small number of phenomena (events, actors, activities, processes, organizations, communities, among others) in each context. Though one can use a mix of qualitative or quantitative data within a case study, meaning that case studies can also take quantitative route, a case study is always a detailed analysis of the relationships between the contextual factors and a visible occurrence. Case studies are therefore considered when there is need for detailed information on the issue(s) under investigation. A single case study aims at providing details on the variables of interest. A comparative case study has two or more cases (what literature refers to as small-N) for the purpose of making comparative causal explanations. A researcher uses comparative case studies when they want to tease out the similarities and/or differences between or among the cases, usually for the purpose of explaining causation.

Action Research

Action research is problem-solution focused. It falls under the category of applied research and subsequently, uses practical approach to solve an immediate problem. In this case, the researcher works together with a community or practitioners to identify a challenging issue within the community that requires a possible solution. They formulate the problem together and design the research in a way that the aim is to work towards getting a solution to the problem. Once the data collected is analysed and recommendations given, a plan of action is drawn and applied to the problem that the research was designed for. The community (and researcher) reflects on the effectiveness of the solutions applied to take appropriate measures. In a nutshell, Huang ( 2010 : 99) explains that action research proceeds from a praxis of participation guided by practitioners’ concerns for practicality; it is inclusive of stakeholders’ ways of knowing and helps to build capacity for ongoing change efforts. This form of research requires money and time. As Huang ( 2010 ) notes, action research can take a qualitative, quantitative or mixed-method perspective. Various methods of data collection including oral interviews, surveys, community mapping, observation, among others, may be applied in action research.

Grounded Theory Research

A researcher may apply two approaches, inductive or deductive, to do research. The deductive approach means that one has a theoretical basis from where hypotheses can be formulated and tested. Inductive approach, on the other hand, is grounded or bottom-up. The researcher in this case starts by making observations that then provide him or her with patterns from where conclusions and theory can be drawn. Grounded research therefore moves from the point of poor or no theory up to where a researcher can deduce an informed hypothesis and towards theory building, all from the observations and analysis made from data. It is similar with other qualitative methods in the use of the various methods of data collection including oral interviews, observation and use of all forms of documents (Strauss and Corbin 1994 ).

Quantitative Methods in Public Policy Research

Quantitative research generates numerical data using such research instruments as the questionnaire, tests, code sheets for content analysis and similar other sources. The data is then subjected to mathematical or statistical analysis (Muijs 2004 ).

Literature divides quantitative research methods into two—experimental and non-experimental methods. Experimental methods are the quantitative approaches that are mainly concerned with manipulation situations with an aim of establishing cause and effect. Bachman ( 2007 : 151) argues that “the experimental design provides the most powerful design for testing causal hypotheses about the effect of a treatment or some other variable whose values can be manipulated by the researchers”. Experiments allow us to explain causality with some confidence because of the use of treatment and control. The basic and elementary type of experimental research involves setting up two groups (treatment and control groups) and introducing change to the treatment but nothing to the control. The effect of the change is measured in the differences in the behaviour or performance of the two groups after the treatment.

Experimental research has been criticized for their weakness in reflecting reality in that they take people out of their natural settings into a laboratory or pseudo-labs. Despite this, they can make important input to policymaking. For instance, micro-level policies on classroom instruction and curriculum have been largely influenced by experimental research.

Non-experimental methods do not manipulate. They are aimed and providing a descriptive picture of what is being studied. Non-experimental methods, as Muijs ( 2004 ) indicates, are more varied and may range from surveys to historical research, observations and analysis of existing data sets (applied quantitative methods). We will briefly look at the experimental and non-experimental quantitative research in the following sections.

Experimental Methods

The different types of experiments can range from randomized control trials (RCTs) to quasi-experiments, and sometimes, natural experiments.

Randomized Control Trials (RCTs)

In their simplest form, RCTs involve assigning individuals, groups, communities or settlements to experimental/treatment and control groups. The experimental group receives treatment—school feeding—while the control group receives no treatment (no school feeding). The difference in school attendance rates between these groups could then be attributed to the treatment, that is, school feeding. If statistics shows that attendance increases in the treatment group but stays the same or decreases in the control group, other things being equal, the researcher can make claims about school feeding causing increase in school attendance. Randomized control trials are expensive and are usually beyond the budget reach of most researchers. Public policy researchers therefore embark on other forms of experimental methods generally described as quasi-experimental methods.

Quasi-experiments

There is an unending controversy as to what constitutes a quasi-experiment. Given the little profit accruing from such a controversy, we would take a simple definition of that concept: any experiment that mimics as closely as possible the advantages of RCT (Muijs 2004 : 27). In quasi-experiments randomization is not possible (Muijs 2004 ). This makes it difficult to eliminate bias. The experimental group is already determined—they are the ones enjoying or experiencing the treatment of concern to the researcher. What the researcher does is to compare this group with another that is not experiencing the treatment. Often, the treatment is a government programme or some other kind of intervention out of the researcher’s control. Where it is possible to have another group to compare with, the researcher might work with data before treatment comparing that with data after treatment.

Take, for instance, the introduction of government-funded public examinations in some Nigerian prisons in 2019. Would the incidence of violence reduce in prisons because of this policy? A few years into the policy, a researcher might compare incidence of violence in Prison A where the policy is being implemented with Prison B where it is not being implemented. Or, where, for certain reasons that two-prison comparison is not possible, she might compare data on the incidence violence in Prison A before the policy with data on the incidence of violence in the same prison after the policy has been implemented.

Quasi-experiment templates consider space (spatial variation) and time (temporal variation) as important aspects that influence setting up of experimental research designs. Gerring ( 2007 ) and other scholars provide a variety of these templates. For instance, a researcher might be interested in explaining if and how a certain programme or policy, say a school feeding programme, increases students’ performance in national examinations. She can select two local government areas or sub-counties—one with a school feeding programme and the other without—and then compare school performances of students in both sub-counties and local government areas in national examination. It is important to ensure that the two cases (i.e. sub-counties or local government areas in this example) are similar in all other factors that might influence students’ performance in a national examination, the only difference being the presence of a school feeding programme in one and its absence in the other. The data can be collected by a variety of means—questionnaire, secondary data such as attendance registers, observation guide or any other that suits the research objective and question. A fruitful study of this type does not stop at showing that students in local government A where there is a school feeding programme perform better than their counterparts in local government B. That would be an interesting finding, but it leaves a lot unsaid. Rather, it should press on with an explanation of the causal mechanism—the pathway or trajectory by which the school feeding programme leads to better grades. This implies that what is largely categorized as quantitative study may require aspects of qualitative data to allow the researcher to get a complete picture of the issue under investigation.

Ojebode et al. ( 2016 ) attempted to explain the (in)effectiveness of community-based crime prevention practices in Ibadan, Nigeria. They selected two communities—one with a successful community-based crime prevention programme and another with a clearly unsuccessful one. These communities are similar in all the factors that matter to community-based crime prevention—population, ethnic mix, youth population, socio-economic status, and both have community-based crime prevention practices. Their puzzle was: why did the practice work so well in one community and fail so woefully in the other despite the similarities in these communities. Through different rounds of data collection and different instruments, their quantitative and qualitative analysis shows that the settlement patterns in the communities—dating several hundred years—perhaps explained the variation in the outcomes of the crime prevention practices.

Natural Experiments

Natural experiments take advantage of exogenous effect, that is, an intervention that is outside of the control of the researcher, which was also not intended to affect the outcome/dependent variable. The exogenous effect can be in the form of natural (such as a natural disaster), physical (like in the case of the colonial/government border) or historical event. They may also be a policy intervention. These were not intended for research or academic purposes. In other words, what becomes the treatment or causal factor happens through some “natural” occurrence or unplanned event. In some ways, these events may allow for observation of before and after they occurred. An example is Friedman et al. ( 2001 ) who carried out a kind of natural experiment during the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta, Georgia. The researchers wanted to find out whether heavy traffic in the city was a cause of asthma in children. They made observations on how the city was organized during the 17 days of Olympics where the traffic rules changed. Small cars were forced onto alternative routes to leave main routes for mass transport, and this reduced traffic congestion on the major roads of the city. Through paediatric records (before and after Olympics), the study discovered 40% reduction in asthma attacks and emergency hospitalization. The researchers made a conclusion that traffic congestion contributes to paediatric asthma. This can be classified as a natural experiment, where the Olympics (manipulation/treatment) was not planned by the researcher and was exogenous (not related in any known way) to asthma. Such critically thought-out research can easily contribute to change in transport policies. Other studies, for instance, Daniel Posner’s on Chewas and Timbukas of Zambia and Malawi ( 2004 ), have used borders artificially created by colonial governments as boundaries of study groups. In his case, Posner shows how governments in two countries differently exploit similar ethnic compositions and the effect of this exploitation on inter-ethnic relations.

Non-experimental Quantitative Methods

Most quantitative researchers collect data using a standard questionnaire containing mostly close-ended questions. Some researchers may use a questerview, which combine both closed-ended and open-ended question. The latter is applicable when corroborative data or explanations to the closed-ended questions are needed. Survey questionnaires for this reason provide some standardized data that can be keyed into software for organization and analysis. The type of survey questionnaire depends on the nature of data that the researcher requires, the reach of the study population and ways in which the data is to be collected. One can decide to do telephone interviews, post the questionnaire, administer it online or have an ordinary written questionnaire.

Survey research considers a variety of factors including samples and sampling procedures, characteristics of the study population, among other issues. Surveys mainly apply probability sampling with an aim of giving all the elements a chance to be included in the study sample. This is the opposite of non-probability sampling those centres on purposive and convenient sampling. There are various sampling techniques in probability sampling, and these are available in various research methods books. Just to mention, some of the probability sampling approaches include simple random, stratified random, cluster, quota and multistage (see Muijs 2004 , 2011 ; Babbie 2004 ; Kothari 2004 ; Kumar 2011 ). For sample sizes, there are suggested formulas that researchers can apply for both finite and infinite populations.

Observational Studies

Observations are important for both qualitative and quantitative research. In quantitative research, observation is applied both as a research method and as a method of data collection. In qualitative research, observation is mostly categorized as a method of data collection and features in various research methods including ethnography, case study and action research. In quantitative studies, observational methods are important, for they enable a researcher to interact with the study environment and participants in a way that the questionnaire would not. Observational data for quantitative research is collected using standardized/structured observation schedules. A researcher can develop a descriptive observational record or a rating scale to help them collect observational data. This enables the researcher to observe and record the behaviour and activities in the selected study sites in a standardized way. Observations can also be made on existing reports within the institutions being studied, say for instance, school performance and statistical data collected from such reports (see Muijs 2004 ). In the end, the different methods may generate descriptive data of various types, that is, from open-ended and closed-ended descriptions. The selection of participants is also randomized to give all a chance to participate, and subsequently, those falling within the sample size are meant to represent the study population on which generalizations can be made.

Applied Quantitative Method

This method makes use of existing data sets. It applies analytical methods to facilitate description of data that has already been recorded and stored. Different research institutes store varied forms of data sets. These could be useful if a researcher is interested in analysing them with the purpose of achieving a certain research objective. For instance, one might be interested in understanding and describing the population growth trends. In such instances, one does not need to go to the field to collect fresh information when the national bureaux or offices of statistics have the data sets. All one needs is to get permission from relevant authorities to access such information. The challenge with using such data sets is that if they are erroneous in any way, then the errors are carried forth in the analysis. As Muijs ( 2004 ) indicates, the various quantitative research methods can be combined in a single study if this is necessary.

Mixed Methods in Public Policy Research

The advent of mixed-method research and the place that it currently occupies in social science research reinforce the arguments for the use of both traditions of qualitative and quantitative methods in public policy research. Statistics should be complemented and explained by meaning-making concepts, metaphors, symbols and descriptions from qualitative research to make sense of hard data. On the other hand, narratives on their own are not enough. Jones and McBeth ( 2010 : 330) show that despite the apparent power of stories in public policy, public policy studies have largely remained on the side-lines of the use narratives. The two scholars suggest the relevance of using a narrative policy framework as a methodological complement for positivists in the study of policy. Some scholars have also shown that for policy problems to be clearly defined, a narrative structure is needed. Narration, as Fischer ( 1998 ) and Stone ( 2002 : 138) explain, helps make sense of the socially constructed world that requires tangible solutions. Since qualitative approach may not be able to engage hypothesis testing to allow for replication and falsification (Jones and McBeth 2010 : 339), they should complement or be complemented by quantitative data.

Qualitative and quantitative methods have their own separate strengths. As noted above, qualitative research is about depth and qualitative is about breadth. This means, if a study requires both, then mixing the methods is important. Mixing methods therefore means a research problem requires both qualitative and quantitative data. Morse ( 1991 ) argued that triangulation of methods not only maximizes the strengths and minimizes those weaknesses of each approach, but also strengthens research results and contributes to theory and knowledge development.

Mixing research methods does not just imply mixing methods of data collection. A researcher must intentionally clarify which research methods (as discussed above) are applicable in their research to speak to qualitative and quantitative aspects, and by extension what methods of data collection will be used. Note that one research method may have many methods and tools data collection. If one is using ethnography, then participant observation, oral in-depth interviews, observations and focus group discussions are examples of applicable data collection methods. The various methods of data collection have their instruments/tools.

Mixing of methods entirely depends on the purpose for which the methods are mixed. This is determined by the research problem. Mixed research methods books provide a wide range of typologies of designing mixed-method research (see, for instance, Greene et al. 1989 ; Creswell and Clark 2011 ; Schoonenboom and Johnson 2017 ). Below is a simple illustration of the continuum for mixing methods (Fig. 4.2 ). A researcher can move from a purely quantitative or qualitative research method (A and E), towards integrating either quantitative (B) or qualitative (D) methods to the dominant method. A researcher can also design a fully mixed-method research (C). This is a simplified way of understanding how mixing can happen; there are other more complex typologies.

The mixed-method continuum. (Source: Teddlie and Yu 2007 : 84)

In public policy research, the mixing is important for various reasons. One might require results for complementary purpose, explanations to the statistical results, expansion of results from one domain (qualitative or quantitative) or confirmation of results. The dictates of mixing are found within the research problem and by extension research questions/objectives.

There is subtle blame game between bureaucrats and policy makers, on the one hand, and researchers, on the other hand, in Africa. While the latter accuse the former of not using the research they conduct, the former responds by claiming that many of the research do not speak to policy or societal issues and are thus not usable. They add that many of them are rendered in a language that is not accessible to non-academic actors. As a result, not a few policy decisions are based on political and other judgements rather than on sound research.

Our discussion so far suggests that the bureaucrats and policy makers may not be totally right in their accusation, but they are not totally wrong either. The preponderance of policy-appended research, and of solo-method research which offers little as a basis for policy, seems to justify their accusation. It is, therefore, important that public policy researchers weave their research around societal issues that are not only significant but also contemporary and topical, craft their design with the aim of policy engagement and stakeholder involvement, and adopt mixed methods as and when necessary, to provide findings and conclusion that command and compel policy actors’ attention.

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Kilonzo, S.M., Ojebode, A. (2023). Research Methods for Public Policy. In: Aiyede, E.R., Muganda, B. (eds) Public Policy and Research in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99724-3_4

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Research Topics

Research Topics & Ideas: Politics

100+ Politics-Related Research Ideas To Fast-Track Your Project

Finding and choosing a strong research topic is the critical first step when it comes to crafting a high-quality dissertation or thesis. If you’ve landed on this post, chances are you’re looking for a politics-related research topic , but aren’t sure where to start. Here, we’ll explore a variety of politically-related research ideas across a range of disciplines, including political theory and philosophy, comparative politics, international relations, public administration and policy.

NB – This is just the start…

The topic ideation and evaluation process has multiple steps . In this post, we’ll kickstart the process by sharing some research topic ideas. This is the starting point, but to develop a well-defined research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , along with a well-justified plan of action to fill that gap.

If you’re new to the oftentimes perplexing world of research, or if this is your first time undertaking a formal academic research project, be sure to check out our free dissertation mini-course. Also, be sure to sign up for our free webinar that explores how to find a high-quality research topic from scratch.

Overview: Politics-Related Topics

• Political theory and philosophy
• Comparative politics
• International relations
• Public administration
• Public policy
• Examples of politics-related dissertations

Topics & Ideas: Political Theory

• An analysis of the impact of feminism on political theory and the concept of citizenship in Saudi Arabia in the context of Vision 2030
• A comparative study of the political philosophies of Marxism and liberalism and their influence on modern politics
• An examination of how the Covid-19 pandemic affected the relationship between individual freedom and collective responsibility in political philosophy
• A study of the impact of race and ethnicity on French political philosophy and the concept of justice
• An exploration of the role of religion in political theory and its impact on secular democracy in the Middle East
• A Review of Social contract theory, comparative analysis of the political philosophies of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau
• A study of the concept of the common good in political philosophy and its relevance to the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe
• An examination of the relationship between political power and the rule of law in developing African countries
• A study of the impact of postmodernism on political theory and the concept of truth, a case study of the US
• An exploration of the role of virtue in political philosophy and its impact on the assessment of moral character in political leaders

Topics & Ideas: Comparative Politics

• A comparative study of different models of federalism and their impact on democratic governance: A case Study of South American federalist states
• The impact of ethnic and religious diversity on political stability and democracy in developing countries, a review of literature from Africa
• An analysis of the role of civil society in promoting democratic change in autocratic regimes: A case study in Sweden
• A comparative examination of the impact of globalization on political institutions and processes in South America and Africa.
• A study of the factors that contribute to successful democratization in authoritarian regimes, a review of the role of Elite-driven democratization
• A comparison of the political and economic systems of China and India and their impact on social development
• The impact of corruption on political institutions and democracy in South East Asia, a critical review
• A comparative examination of the impact of majoritarian representation (winner-take-all) vs proportional representation on political representation and governance
• An exploration of Multi-party systems in democratic countries and their impact on minority representation and policy-making.
• A study of the factors that contribute to successful decentralization and regional autonomy, a case study of Spain

Topics & Ideas: International Relations

• A comparative analysis of the effectiveness of diplomacy and military force in resolving international conflicts in Central Africa.
• The impact of globalization on the sovereignty of nation-states and the changing nature of international politics, a review of the role of Multinational Corporations
• An examination of the role of international aid organizations in promoting peace, security, and development in the Middle East.
• A study of the impact of economic interdependence on the likelihood of conflict in international relations: A critical review of weaponized interdependence
• A comparative analysis of the foreign policies of the EU and the US and their impact on international stability in Africa
• An exploration of the relationship between international human rights and national sovereignty during the Covid 19 pandemic
• A study of the role of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO)s in international politics and their impact on state behaviour
• A comparative analysis of the effectiveness of international regimes in addressing global challenges such as climate change, arms control, and terrorism in Brazil
• An examination of the impact of the rise of BRICS on the international system and global governance
• A study of the role of ideology in shaping the foreign policies of states and the dynamics of international relations in the US

Tops & Ideas: Public Administration

• An analysis of the impact of digital technology on public administration and the delivery of public services in Estonia
• A review of models of public-private partnerships and their impact on the delivery of public services in Ghana
• An examination of the role of civil society organizations in monitoring and accountability of public administration in Papua New Guinea
• A study of the impact of environmentalism as a political ideology on public administration and policy implementation in Germany
• An exploration of the relationship between public administration and citizen engagement in the policy-making process, an exploration of gender identity concerns in schools
• A comparative analysis of the efficiency and effectiveness of public administration, decentralisation and pay and employment reform in developing countries
• A study of the role of collaborative leadership in public administration and its impact on organizational performance
• A systematic review of the challenges and opportunities related to diversity and inclusion in police services
• A study of the impact of corrupt public administration on economic development and regional growth in Eastern Europe
• An exploration of the relationship between public administration and civil rights and liberties, including issues related to privacy and surveillance, a case study in South Korea

Topics & Ideas: Public Policy

• An analysis of the impacts of public policy on income inequality and poverty reduction in South Sudan
• A comparative study of the effectiveness of legal and regulatory, economic and financial, and social and cultural instruments for addressing climate change in South Korea
• An examination of the role of interest groups in shaping public policy and the policy-making process regarding land-use claims
• A study of the impact of globalization on the development of public policies and programs for mitigating climate change in Singapore
• An exploration of the relationship between public policy and social justice in tertiary education in the UAE
• A comparative analysis of the impact of health policies for the management of diabetes on access to healthcare and health outcomes in developing countries
• Exploring the role of evidence-based policymaking in the design and implementation of public policies for the management of invasive invertebrates in Australia
• An examination of the challenges and opportunities of implementing educational dietary public policies in developing multicultural countries
• A study of the impact of public policies on urbanization and urban development in rural Indonesia
• An exploration of the role of media and public opinion in shaping public policy and the policy-making process in the transport industry of Malaysia

Examples: Politics Dissertations & Theses

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a politics-related research topic, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual dissertations and theses to see how this all comes together.

Below, we’ve included a selection of research projects from various politics-related degree programs to help refine your thinking. These are actual dissertations and theses, written as part of Master’s and PhD-level programs, so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

• We, the Righteous Few: Immoral Actions of Fellow Partisans are Judged as Less Possible (Varnam, 2020)
• Civilizing the State: Civil Society and the Politics of Primary Public Health Care Provision in Urban Brazil (Gibson, 2012)
• Political regimes and minority language policies: evidence from Taiwan and southeast Asia (Wu, 2021)
• The Feminist Third Wave: Social Reproduction, Feminism as Class Struggle, and Contemporary Women’s Movements (Angulo, 2019)
• The Politics of Immigration under Authoritarianism (Joo, 2019)
• The politics of digital platforms: Sour Dictionary, activist subjectivities, and contemporary cultures of resistance (Okten, 2019)
• Vote choice and support for diverse candidates on the Boston City Council At-Large (Dolcimascolo, 2022)
• The city agenda: local governance and national influence in the policy agenda, 1900-2020 (Shannon, 2022)
• Turf wars: who supported measures to criminalize homelessness in Austin, Texas? (Bompiedi, 2021)
• Do BITs Cause Opposition Between Investor Rights and Environmental Protection? (Xiong, 2022)
• Revealed corruption and electoral accountability in Brazil: How politicians anticipate voting behavior (Diaz, 2021)
• Intersectional Solidarity: The Political Consequences of a Consciousness of Race, Gender and Sexuality (Crowder, 2020)
• The Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Coalitional Representation of Latinxs in the U.S. House of Representatives (Munoz, 2019)

Looking at these titles, you can probably pick up that the research topics here are quite specific and narrowly-focused , compared to the generic ones presented earlier. In other words, to create a top-notch research topic, you must be precise and target a specific context with specific variables of interest . In other words, you need to identify a clear, well-justified research gap.

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If you’re still feeling a bit unsure about how to find a research topic for your dissertation or research project, check out our Topic Kickstarter service below.

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Law and Public Policy

Getting started, books & articles, legislation & government reports, reports & working papers, news & current awareness, agencies, think tanks & advocacy groups, data sources, getting help, ready..set...go prepare for summer success.

This guide was originally prepared for the Law and Policy Research Sessio the  Ready... Set... Go! Prepare for Summer Success event.

Reference Works

Don't forget print sources! These reference works can give quick background and cross-references when you are starting your research.

• Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy, 2d ed., edited by Evan M. Berman ; Jack Rabin, founding editor. (print) Widener WID-LC JK9 .E525 2008x
• Encyclopedia of American Public Policy/ Byron Jackson (print) Kennedy School Ref JK468.P64 J33 1999 Widener RR 3631.7
• The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy / edited by Michael Moran, Martin Rein and Robert E. Goodin (print) Kennedy School Reserve Lamont REFERENCE JA71 .O945 2006x Widener Harvard Depository H97 .O88 2006

Public Policy Research Guides

These research guides may also include useful resources.  Guides from other schools may link to protected databases or local copies of print items. Check HOLLIS to see if we have access to a particular database.

• Harvard Kennedy School Library & Knowledge Services: Public Policy
• Georgetown Law Library: Public Policy Research
• University of Massachusetts: Public Policy and Administration Research
• University at Albany: Public Administration and Policy

Subject Specific Research Guides

Public policy research often overlaps with other disciplines.  The following guides can provide a useful starting point for specific areas of research. If your subject isn't represented below, try googling your subject and the phrase (in quotes!) "research guide."

• Bankruptcy by Lisa Lilliott Rydin Last Updated Apr 12, 2024 313 views this year
• Regulation of Financial Institutions by Lisa Lilliott Rydin Last Updated Apr 12, 2024 1772 views this year
• Tax Law by Lisa Lilliott Rydin Last Updated Apr 12, 2024 1213 views this year
• Canadian Official Publications by Hugh Truslow Last Updated Jan 20, 2023 348 views this year
• Energy: Government Agencies, Units, Plans, Stats, and Jobs by George Clark Last Updated Apr 29, 2024 230 views this year
• Environmental Justice and Space, Place, & Identity by George Clark Last Updated Jan 20, 2023 547 views this year
• Federal & State Legislative History by Mindy Kent Last Updated Apr 18, 2024 365 views this year
• Government: A Guide to Research Resources by Hugh Truslow Last Updated Feb 26, 2024 238 views this year
• Great Britain: Guide to the Documents by Hugh Truslow Last Updated Apr 12, 2024 303 views this year
• Guide to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Documents by Hugh Truslow Last Updated Jan 20, 2023 214 views this year
• HUFPI Research Guide by Susan Gilroy Last Updated Feb 29, 2024 263 views this year
• Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS) by Hugh Truslow Last Updated Jan 20, 2023 305 views this year
• Law and Public Policy by Mindy Kent Last Updated Apr 12, 2024 394 views this year
• Law and Society by Harvard Law School Library Research Services Last Updated Apr 12, 2024 833 views this year
• League of Nations Documents by Hugh Truslow Last Updated Jan 20, 2023 137 views this year
• Palestine in Government Documents by George Clark Last Updated Apr 1, 2024 369 views this year
• President's Commission on the Status of Women by Jennifer Fauxsmith Last Updated Apr 17, 2024 751 views this year
• Research Guide for CES Visiting Scholars by Fred Burchsted Last Updated May 22, 2024 437 views this year
• Research Guide for Weatherhead Center Program Affiliates by Susan Gilroy Last Updated Aug 3, 2023 103 views this year
• Soviet / Russian ephemera collection (late 1980s-1990s) by Anna Rakityanskaya Last Updated Nov 14, 2023 362 views this year
• The Theodore Roosevelt Collection: A Guide for Researchers by Kate Donovan Last Updated Jan 20, 2023 305 views this year
• U. S. Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports by Hugh Truslow Last Updated Jan 20, 2023 300 views this year
• U.S. Congressional Publications by Hugh Truslow Last Updated Apr 12, 2024 455 views this year
• U.S. Department of State Documents by Hugh Truslow Last Updated May 1, 2024 878 views this year
• U.S. Presidential Documents by Hugh Truslow Last Updated Jan 20, 2023 232 views this year
• UNESCO Documents by Hugh Truslow Last Updated Jan 20, 2023 172 views this year
• Uniform Laws and Model Acts by Deanna Barmakian Last Updated Sep 12, 2023 480 views this year
• United Nations Documents by Hugh Truslow Last Updated Feb 23, 2023 364 views this year
• United States Declassified Documents by Hugh Truslow Last Updated Jan 20, 2023 324 views this year

Search HOLLIS Classic

Search HOLLIS+ for books and articles

Useful subject terms include:

• Social Policy
• Public Policy (Law)
• Political Planning

Not at Harvard? Try searching WorldCat

• WorldCat.org (OCLC) more... less... WorldCat is the largest library network in the world. WorldCat libraries are dedicated to providing access to their free resources on the Web, where most people start their search for information. ##WorldCat's coverage is both deep and wide. You can search for popular books, music CDs and videos—all of the physical items you're used to getting from libraries. You can also link to many new kinds of digital content, such as downloadable audiobooks you can listen to on many portable MP3 players. You may additionally find authoritative research materials, such as documents and photos of local or historic significance; abstracts and full-text articles; and digital versions of rare items that aren't available to the public.

Other Article Sources

• Academic Search Premier (Harvard Login) more... less... Academic Search Premier (ASP) is a multi-disciplinary database that includes citations and abstracts from over 4,700 scholarly publications (journals, magazines and newspapers). Full text is available for more than 3,600 of the publications and is searchable.
• Business Source Complete (Harvard Login) A database of citations to, summaries and full text of articles from academic journals, magazines, and trade publications. Citations, indexing and abstracts for the most important scholarly business journals back to 1886 are included as well as current company, industry and region reports. more... less... The EBSCOhost Interface is optimized for searching articles. The Business Searching Interface facilitates searching other types of documents as well as articles. Business Source Complete is a database of citations to, summaries and full text of articles from academic journals, magazines, and trade publications. Citations, indexing and abstracts for the most important scholarly business journals back to 1886 are included as well as current company, industry and region reports.
• ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) ERIC is an online digital library of education research and information sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education.
• JSTOR Full-text of more than 200 cross-disciplinary academic journals. Coverage begins with the first volume, but usually does not include the most recent 1 to 5 years more... less... Includes all titles in the JSTOR collection, excluding recent issues. JSTOR (www.jstor.org) is a not-for-profit organization with a dual mission to create and maintain a trusted archive of important scholarly journals, and to provide access to these journals as widely as possible. Content in JSTOR spans many disciplines, primarily in the humanities and social sciences. For complete lists of titles and collections, please refer to http://www.jstor.org/about/collection.list.html.
• HeinOnline Searchable full-text access to law reviews Coverage varies by title but generally starts with the first year of publication May not include current year more... less... http://heinonline.org.ezp1.harvard.edu/HOL/Help?topic=lucenesyntax
• HOLLIS Library Catalog HOLLIS is the catalog to all library materials at Harvard and thus a great central place to start your search. Use HOLLIS to find books, articles, databases, print and online journals, finding aids for archival materials, visual materials, and more.
• PubMed with full text more... less... Find it at Harvard
• HOLLIS Databases

Find Public Policy Articles

• PAIS International (Harvard Login) PAIS International indexes the public and social policy literature of public administration, political science, economics, finance, international relations, law, and health care, International in scope. Current:1972-present Archive: 1937-1976 more... less... PAIS International indexes the public and social policy literature of public administration, political science, economics, finance, international relations, law, and health care, International in scope, PAIS indexes publications in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. The database is comprised of abstracts of thousands of journal articles, books, directories, conference proceedings, government documents and statistical yearbooks.
• PolicyFile (Harvard Login) Description: PolicyFile provides abstracts (more than half of the abstracts link to the full text documents) of domestic and international public policy issues. The public policy reports and studies are published by think tanks, university research programs, research organizations which include the OECD, IMF, World Bank, the Rand Corporation, and a number of federal agencies. more... less... PolicyFile provides abstracts (more than half of the abstracts link to the full text documents) of domestic and international public policy issues. The public policy reports and studies are published by think tanks, university research programs, research organizations which include the OECD, IMF, World Bank, the Rand Corporation, and a number of federal agencies. The database search engine allows users to search by title, author, subject, organization and keyword.

• Proquest Government Periodicals Index (Harvard Login) Government Periodicals Index covers the publications of federal departments and agencies responsible for fundamental societal concerns: business, agriculture, national security, the environment and natural resources, health and safety, food and nutrition, transportation, and more. more... less... ProQuest Government Periodicals Index provides indexing and links to full text articles from over 300 periodicals published by agencies and departments of the United States Federal government. The index provides detailed access by subject and author. ####Updated quarterly (March, June, Sept, and December), Government Periodicals Universe covers the publications of scores of federal departments and agencies responsible for fundamental societal concerns: business, agriculture, national security, the environment and natural resources, health and safety, food and nutrition, transportation, and more. With each update, the service adds approximately 2,500 articles that reflect the enormous diversity of federal interests.
• Policy Commons Database for public policy, with more than 3 million reports, working papers, policy briefs, data sources, and media drawn from a directory of more than 21,000 IGOs, NGOs, think tanks, and research centers.

Public Policy Journals

• Harvard Law & Policy Review
• Stanford Law & Policy Review
• Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy
• Hein Online Law Journal Library: Advanced Search In the subject field, select Public Law and Policy to narrow your search to relevant journals. Note by selecting Public Law and Policy, you will be able to view a long list of policy-focused law journals.
• JSTOR Public Policy & Administration Collection of full-text journals relating to public policy. Coverage varies by title. more... less... JSTOR (www.jstor.org) is a not-for-profit organization with a dual mission to create and maintain a trusted archive of important scholarly journals, and to provide access to these journals as widely as possible. Content in JSTOR spans many disciplines, primarily in the humanities and social sciences. For complete lists of titles and collections, please refer to http://www.jstor.org/about/collection.list.html.
• Search HOLLIS for U.S. law & public policy journals

Law and Legislation

• THOMAS A resource created by the Library of Congress, THOMAS provides access to a wide range of legislative materials including public laws, pending bills, committee reports and hearings. It also provides access to the full text of legislation from 1989 (101st Congress) to the present. This is a good resource for compiling legislative history materials.
• House and Senate Hearings, Congressional Record Permanent Digital Collection, and Digital US Bills and Resolutions A major source of information about the members of Congress and their legislative activities and a primary resource for accessing the many publications of the U.S. Congress from 1789 to present
• LexisNexis State Capital Extensive access to state legislation, administrative law, and commentary more... less... LexisNexis State Capital provides access to the legislation and administrative law of all 50 states. Consult this resource to retrieve: the full text of bills, current state statutory codes and constitutions, adopted regulations as available in current state administrative codes or as initially published in state registers and proposed regulations as also located in recent state registers. Tracking reports of the status of current bills and proposed regulations are provided as well. Coverage of current legislative issues and developments by state newspapers of record and other publications is also offered by State Capital. In addition, current state legislative directory information and the Martindale-Hubbell Law Digest are included in this resource.
• Federal Legislative History (HLSL Research Guide) For more detailed links for finding legislative history, please consult our Federal Legislative History Research Guide

Congressional Research Reports

The Congressional Research Service provides background research for members of Congress.  CRS Reports are not automatically made public, so there is no single source for finding CRS Reports. Try these resources to locate CRS Reports on your issue.

• Every CRS Report Open access to selected public research reports produced by the Congressional Research Service
• Harvard Kennedy School: Research Guide to Congressional Research Service Reports

Government Research Reports and Analysis

• Proquest Government Periodicals Index (Harvard Login) more... less... ProQuest Government Periodicals Index provides indexing and links to full text articles from over 300 periodicals published by agencies and departments of the United States Federal government. The index provides detailed access by subject and author. ####Updated quarterly (March, June, Sept, and December), Government Periodicals Universe covers the publications of scores of federal departments and agencies responsible for fundamental societal concerns: business, agriculture, national security, the environment and natural resources, health and safety, food and nutrition, transportation, and more. With each update, the service adds approximately 2,500 articles that reflect the enormous diversity of federal interests.
• National Journal Group's Policy Central (Harvard Login) more... less... National Journal’s Policy Central is a collection of resources on U.S. politics and policy, including the National Journal with archives dating back to 1977; the Hotline, a daily briefing on U.S. politics; CongressDaily, a twice daily update on activity in the U.S. Congress; Technology Daily; Poll Track; Markup Reports; Ad Spotlight; and the Almanac of American Politics.
• CQ Press Electronic Library (Harvard Login) A comprehensive reference resource for research in U.S. politics, elections, government, and public policy. Includes CQ Weekly, the Washington Information Directory, Congressional, Federal, Judicial Staff Directories, CQ Researcher, the Congress Collection, Voting and Elections Collection, and more. more... less... A comprehensive reference resource for research in U.S. politics, elections, government, and public policy. Includes CQ Weekly, the Washington Information Directory, Congressional, Federal, Judicial Staff Directories, CQ Researcher, the Congress Collection, Voting and Elections Collection, and more.
• U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) The GAO is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress. GAO investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars. Non-classified GAO reports are available online or via the GAO's iPhone app.

Working Papers

If you're looking for works in progress or articles that have been accepted, but not yet published, here are some places to search.

• SSRN: Social Science Research Network SSRN contains both full text and abstracts of forthcoming and scholarly working papers--as well as published articles--in a full range of social science disciplines: law, economics, management, negotiation, politics, etc.
• BePress BePress is another academic repository that contains both published and working papers.
• World Bank Policy Research Working Papers A collection of policy research working papers, policy research reports, and world development reports in the World Bank's Archives.
• Harvard Kennedy School Faculty Working Paper Series Index to HKS working papers on research in a number of areas related to public policy.

Grey Literature

"Grey Literature" refers to documents produced by entities that are not primarily publishers. It can include reports, memos, working papers and internal documents. These research guides give some good sources and tips for locating these types of materials. 

• Grey Literature Research Guide (University of Michigan)
• Grey Literature Research Guide (NYU)

Looking for a report written by a think tank, non-profit, or other NGO? The links below include tools that can help you search across think tank sites, find organizations by topic, and more.

If you know which organization you're looking for, you can of course go directly to an organization's website. If you have trouble finding something you think should exist on a specific site, remember it's easy to create a custom search engine with Google. For example, if you are looking for the recent Rand report Planning for an Aging Nation, you would type the following into the search box:

"Planning for an Aging Nation" site:rand.org

This will limit your search to just Rand's website. You can limit your search further to just results in PDF by running the following search:

"Planning for an Aging Nation" site:rand.org filetype:pdf

• UNC Think Tank Google Search This custom Google search engine allows you to search across 300 of the most important US and international think tanks.
• HKS Think Tanks Directory The Kennedy School Library's directory of think tanks covers US and International organizations.
• Think Tank Rankings (International Relations Program, University of Pennsylvania) Global directory of top think tanks by region, subject, and special achievement, i.e. most innovative proposals, best new think tank.
• NIRA - National Institute for Research Advancement (Japan, 2005) Directory A worldwide directory of think tanks that provides descriptions of the organizations' work, operating budgets, and officers.
• Master Government List of Federally Funded R&D Centers (National Science Foundation)

News Sources

• Nexis Uni (Harvard Key) Nexis Uni contains major newspapers and magazines with coverage for about the last 30 years.
• Proquest Historical Newspapers If you're looking for older news stories, Proquest may have it. Its coverage includes the New York Times, Washington Post, and WSJ, as well as several other major regional US and African American newspapers dating from the 19th-late 20th centuries.
• Widener Collection of Newspapers on Microfilm If you're in the Boston area, remember that Widener Library has a large collection of newspapers on microfilm including regional and local titles.
• Factiva Factiva is a database of over 8,000 business and news publications, most in full text. Sources are in 22 languages, date back as far as 1969, and include trade journals, newswires (Dow Jones, Reuters, and others), media programs, and company and stock reports more... less... Factiva is a database of over 8,000 business and news publications, most in full text. Sources are in 22 languages, date back as far as 1969, and include trade journals, newswires (Dow Jones, Reuters, and others), media programs, and company and stock reports. Find information on over 22,000 public and private companies including description, history, current stock quote, financial data, competitors, and the latest news on business activities. Search publications by title, industry, geographic locations, type, and language.
• National Journal Group's Policy Central (Harvard Login) National Journal’s Policy Central is a collection of resources on U.S. politics and policy, including the National Journal with archives dating back to 1977; the Hotline, a daily briefing on U.S. politics; CongressDaily, a twice daily update on activity in the U.S. Congress; Technology Daily; Poll Track; Markup Reports; Ad Spotlight; and the Almanac of American Politics. more... less... National Journal’s Policy Central is a collection of resources on U.S. politics and policy, including the National Journal with archives dating back to 1977; the Hotline, a daily briefing on U.S. politics; CongressDaily, a twice daily update on activity in the U.S. Congress; Technology Daily; Poll Track; Markup Reports; Ad Spotlight; and the Almanac of American Politics.

Current Awareness

If you're following an issue, there are a number of ways to keep up on developments. Lexis and Westlaw both have alerting services that will send you an email when there are new results for a search you've run. Some general academic databases listed in this guide also have alerting services. 

• Lexis alerts Set up a Lexis alert to be notified when new results are available for a search. You can set alerts in most database types and for new Shepard's results.
• Justia's BlawgSearch Find legal blogs in your research areas to follow, or search across the legal blogosphere. Either way you can subscribe to results with your favorite RSS reader.
• Google News Search news sites with Google and subscribe to the results.
• ABA Blawg Directory Browse by region to find local law blogs

U.S. Government Agencies

• Federal Agency Directory (Louisiana State University Library Online directory created as partnership between LSU and the Federal Library Depository Project
• Leadership Connect (Harvard Login) Leadership Directories, also known as Yellow Books, contain current contact information for the leaders of major U.S. government, business, professional and nonprofit organizations. more... less... Leadership Directories researches contact and biographical data for hundreds of thousands of thought leaders in America - with emails, phone numbers, addresses, and background information. It provides web-based directories with in-depth organization profiles and verified contact information from companies, government agencies, Congressional offices, law firms, news media outlets, healthcare organizations, and nonprofits.
• State and Local Government on the Web Links by state and subject.

International Agencies

• List on IGOs (Northwestern University) Comprehensive guide to Intergovernmental Organizations compiled by librarians at Northwestern Univerisity
• Duke Searchable NGO Database This is a selected searchable database of NGOs.
• International Organizations (United States Institute for Peace) Alphabetical list of international organizations.
• Yearbook of International Organizations Online Searchable database of approximately 63,000 international organizations. more... less... The Yearbook of International Organizations Online is a searchable database of approximately 63,000 international organizations. The information for each organization includes name, address, biographical information for company officers, history and aims, personnel and finances. All types of organizations are included such as formal structures, informal networks, professional bodies and recreational clubs.
• Worldwide NGO Directory

Think Tanks

Interest groups and associations.

• CQ Guide to Interest Groups and Lobbying in the U.S. Overview and analysis of interest groups and lobbying in American politics from the 18th century to the present.
• OpenSecrets Open Secrets tracks money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy, and includes federal campaign contributions, lobbying data and analysis available
• Political Advocacy Groups: A Directory of United States Lobbyists Online directory of lobbying groups organized by subject.
• data.census.gov The U.S. Census Bureau’s online tool for accessing population, economic, geographic and housing information.
• Court Statistics Project The CSP collects and analyzes data relating to the work and caseloads of US courts.
• Statistical Abstract of the United States An authoritative and comprehensive summary of historical statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. Use the Abstract as a convenient volume for statistical reference, and as a guide to sources of more information both in print and on the Web. Sources of data include the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and many other Federal agencies and private organizations, covering the years 1889-2011. Historical supplements include statistics from the colonial era through 1970.
• ICPSR The ICPSR, Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, maintains and provides access to a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction. All ICPSR datasets at Harvard University are maintained by the IQSS Dataverse Network. (Harvard University ID and PIN required).
• The Supreme Court Database A the definitive source for researchers, students, journalists, and citizens interested in the U.S. Supreme Court. The Database contains over two hundred pieces of information about each case decided by the Court between the 1953 and 2008 terms. Examples include the identity of the court whose decision the Supreme Court reviewed, the parties to the suit, the legal provisions considered in the case, and the votes of the Justices.
• Proquest Statistical Insight (Harvard Login) indexes and abstracts of the statistical content of selected publications of U.S. federal and state agencies, non-governmental associations, commercial publishers, universities, and international, research and business organizations. more... less... Proquest Statistical Insight is a bibliographic database that indexes and abstracts the statistical content of selected United States government publications, state government publications, business and association publications, and intergovernmental publications. The abstracts may also contain a link to the full text of the table and/or a link to the agency's web site where the full text of the publication may be viewed and downloaded.
• Statistics Sources This resource indexes statistical resources alphabetically, topically and geographically, including international sources. It is available in print in the reference room at HA1 .S7.
• WDI Online (World Development Indicators) WDI (World Development Indicators) Online contains statistical data from the World Bank for almost 600 development indicators and time series data from 1960 for over 200 countries and 18 country groups. Data includes social, economic, financial, natural resources, and environmental indicators. more... less... WDI (World Development Indicators) Online contains statistical data from the World Bank for almost 600 development indicators and time series data from 1960 for over 200 countries and 18 country groups. Data includes social, economic, financial, natural resources, and environmental indicators. Results can be scaled, indexed against a particular year, viewed by percentage change, and charted. Data can be exported in Excel.

Public Opinion

• American National Election Studies ANES contains downloadable data sets for U.S. elections and public opinion from 1948 to the present.
• Gallup Analytics (Harvard Login) The Gallup Brain is a searchable record of more than 70 years of public opinion and includes answers to hundreds of thousands of questions, and responses from millions of people interviewed by The Gallup Poll since 1935. more... less... Fully searchable records of Daily U.S. Data - economic, well-being, and political data collected daily since 2008 of 1,000+ interviews; World Poll Data - economic, social, and well-being data collected annually since 2005 in 160+ countries, 1.5 million+ interviews worldwide; and Gallup Brain - historical Gallup trends on thousands of topics from the U.S. and world dating back to the 1930s.
• General Social Survey The GSS contains a standard 'core' of demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal questions, plus topics of special interest. Many of the core questions have remained unchanged since 1972 to facilitate time-trend studies as well as replication of earlier findings. The GSS takes the pulse of America, and is a unique and valuable resource. It has tracked the opinions of Americans over the last four decades.
• The Roper Center Public Opinion Archives The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research is a leading archive of social science data, specializing in data from surveys of public opinion. The data held range from the 1930s, when survey research was in its infancy, to the present. Most of the data are from the United States, but over 50 nations are represented.
• Pew Research Center for People and the Press The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press is an independent, non-partisan public opinion research organization that studies attitudes toward politics, the press and public policy issues.

Additional Data & Public Opinion Sources

• Databases for Statistical Research (Harvard Law School Library
• Harvard Library Data Research Guides
• Public Opinion Data Sources (Harvard Library)

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Between 9:00 PM EST on Saturday, May 29th and 9:00 PM EST on Sunday, May 30th users will not be able to access resources through the Law Library’s Catalog, the Law Library’s Database List, the Law Library’s Frequently Used Databases List, or the Law Library’s Research Guides. Users can still access databases that require an individual user account (ex. Westlaw, LexisNexis, and Bloomberg Law), or databases listed on the Main Library’s A-Z Database List.

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Policy Research Guide

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Introduction

This research guide is designed to serve as a starting point for conducting research in policy analysis. It will include both print and electronic resources available in the Georgetown Law Library. 

The Georgetown Law Library also has a collection of research guides on many topics closely impacted by public policy:

• Banking Law Research Guide by Daniel Donahue Last Updated Aug 29, 2023 147 views this year
• Education Law Research Guide by Jill Smith Last Updated Nov 2, 2023 3834 views this year
• Environmental Law Research Guide by Rachel Jorgensen Last Updated May 13, 2024 862 views this year
• Health Law Research Guide by Jill Smith Last Updated Mar 13, 2024 665 views this year
• National Security Law Research Guide by Law Library Reference Last Updated Apr 10, 2023 1801 views this year
• Poverty Law Research Guide by Law Library Reference Last Updated Feb 7, 2024 806 views this year
• Securities Law (U.S. and International) Research Guide by Jill Smith Last Updated Apr 4, 2024 2471 views this year
• Statistics and Empirical Legal Studies Research Guide by Sara E. Burriesci Last Updated May 2, 2024 2860 views this year
• Tax Research - Federal Guide by Law Library Reference Last Updated Apr 6, 2023 6032 views this year

Please also refer to the Lauinger Library's research guides related to public policy:

• Environmental Policy
• Public Opinion and Polling
• Public Policy
• PAIS Index Covers issues in the public debate through a wide variety of international sources including journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference papers, web content, and more.
• Policy File Index Indexes research and publications from public policy think tanks, university research programs, research organizations, and publishers. Each item includes an abstract and, where available, access to the full-text of the report and/or the homepages and email addresses of the authoring institution.
• ProQuest Congressional Bills & Public Laws 1987-present; Committee Prints & misc. publications 1817-present; Congressional Record Bound Edition & predecessors 1789-2001; Congressional Record Daily Edition 1985-present; Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports 1916-present; Hearings 1817-present; House & Senate Documents 1817-present; House & Senate Reports 1789-present; Serial Set publications 1789-present; Serial Set Maps 1789-1969; CIS Legislative Histories 1969-present.
• ProQuest Political Science Covers the literature of political science and international relations, including such topics as comparative politics, political economy, international development, environmental policy, and hundreds of related topics.

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Links 6/14 (MK) Updated 9/15 (MK) Updated 3/21 (CMC) Updated 4/23 (SB)

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• © Georgetown University Law Library. These guides may be used for educational purposes, as long as proper credit is given. These guides may not be sold. Any comments, suggestions, or requests to republish or adapt a guide should be submitted using the Research Guides Comments form . Proper credit includes the statement: Written by, or adapted from, Georgetown Law Library (current as of .....).
• Last Updated: Oct 2, 2023 2:21 PM
• URL: https://guides.ll.georgetown.edu/policyresearch

Databases: Public Policy: Public Policy Databases

• Public Policy Databases
• All Databases by Subject Area

Core Resources

• PAIS Index This link opens in a new window Covers journal articles, books, conference proceedings, and other literature on the full range of political, social, and public policy issues. Also included is information about websites, publications and organizations.
• Policy File Index This link opens in a new window Policy File Index includes full-text report, paper, document and other sources on U.S. public policy research including over 75 public policy topics (both foreign and domestic) from over 350 public policy think tanks, nongovernmental organizations, research institutes, university centers, advocacy groups, and other entities.

Additional Resources

• Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window This academic multi-disciplinary database provides than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. In addition, it offers indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 journals and a total of more than 13,200 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. Coverage spans virtually every area of academic study and offers information dating as far back as 1887.
• Congressional Research Reports This link opens in a new window Provides access to research reports on a wide variety of public policy issues prepared by the Congressional Research Service for members of Congress. more... less... Open access version available here: https://crsreports.congress.gov/
• CQ Federal This link opens in a new window Formerly called CQ.com on Congress, this database provides extensive coverage of the activities of both Houses of Congress, including Committees. Includes daily articles and reports analyzing Congressional activity, as well as member profiles, the text of bills, schedules and agendas, committee reports and testimony, and more. Simultaneous users: 10 + IP access
• CQ Historic Documents This link opens in a new window Presently contains 32 annual volumes of primary sources, each volume with approximately 100 documents covering the most significant events of the year. Documents range from presidential speeches, international agreements, and Supreme Court decisions, to U.S. governmental reports, scientific findings, and cultural discussions.
• CQ Political Moneyline This link opens in a new window Formerly CQ MoneyLine, CQ Political MoneyLine contains data from the past 25 years on money in politics. Users can: * Track contributions from PACs, individual donors and politicians to elected officials, candidates and party committees. * Find out which industry sectors raise and distribute the most, and where the dollars are going. * Follow the flow of soft money through 527 groups. * Retrieve information on thousands of lobbyists, indexed by client and issue. Simultaneous Users: 10 + IP access
• CQ Press Library This link opens in a new window Provides information on historical and current issues in American politics and government, including: Political Handbook of the World; Washington Information Directory; Guides to Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court, the Presidency, U.S. Elections and Political Campaigns; Historic Documents (1972-2017); Vital Statistics on American Politics; and Supreme Court Yearbook.
• CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window CQ Researcher Online features original, comprehensive reporting and balanced analysis on issues of major political importance. CQ Researcher is a particularly good source of bibliographies on current topics.
• CQ Vital Statistics on American Politics This link opens in a new window Covers a wide range of topics in American politics, such as elections, Congress, the presidency, the judiciary, the media, campaign finances, policy, and a variety of issues related to state and local government. Includes rankings of public officials' reputations, content analyses of media coverage, and public opinion data about policy issues. Sources of material include reference volumes, government publications, political science journals, monographs, and press releases.
• CQ Voting and Elections This link opens in a new window CQ Voting and Elections Collection integrates data, analyses, concise explanations, and historical material to provide research material on the American voter, major and minor political parties, campaigns and elections, and historical and modern races for Congress, the presidency, and governorships.
• Factiva This link opens in a new window Source for global news, and business, financial, and company information, providing access to thousands of newspapers and other publications. Stock quotes are also available. Simultaneous users: 6
• FBIS: Foreign Broadcast Information Service Daily Reports (1941-1996) This link opens in a new window The Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) was a United States government operation which translated the text of daily broadcasts, government statements, and select news stories from non-English sources. Succeeded by World News Connection after 1996; scope of coverage may be significantly different.
• Gallup Analytics This link opens in a new window Contains two sets of polling information: the Gallup Poll Social Series, public opinion surveys on social, economic, and political topics accessible to all users, and the U.S. Tracker and World Poll providing, respectively, U.S. public opinion datasets at the country, state and U.S. city respondent levels, and international public opinion datasets.
• Global Think Tanks (Policy Commons) This link opens in a new window Global Think Tanks is a growing digital repository providing access to more than 3 million reports, working papers, policy briefs, and data sources drawn from over 21,000 IGOs, NGOs, internationally-based think tanks and research organizations, along with document histories of 450 defunct organizations. Content is harvested (and indexed) on trending research topics across a wide range of disciplines and includes hard-to-find local and regional collections and at-risk content.
• govinfo This link opens in a new window govinfo (formerly FdSys) GPO's official system of record for online Government information. Replaces GPO Access.
• Health Policy Reference Center This link opens in a new window Health Policy Reference Center (HPRC) offers articles from hundreds of full-text publications, including industry-leading academic journals, monographs, magazines, trade publications and other valuable resources. In addition, it provides hundreds of thousands of records with subject headings from an extensive thesaurus.
• Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL) This link opens in a new window The Homeland Digital Security Library compiles documents relevant to homeland security policy and related national strategy. Information in the HDSL comes from federal, state and local agencies, research institutions, universities, and think tanks. Includes documents created since 2002, plus some earlier documents relevant to current initiatives. Sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Grants & Training and the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense & Security.
• ICPSR: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research This link opens in a new window This resource includes both publicly available and non-publicly available datasets on public policy and social science research. Users must create an account and log in to access data.
• International Political Science Abstracts This link opens in a new window Current indexing and abstracting of the world's leading journals in political science. Simultaneous users: 8
• LexisNexis Academic: please use Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window This database has been replaced by Nexis Uni.
• Military & Government Collection This link opens in a new window Providing current news pertaining to all branches of the military, this database covers about 400 titles, with the full text of nearly 300 journals and periodicals and 245 pamphlets. Includes CountryWatch's Country Review.
• National Journal Central This link opens in a new window A collection of resources on US politics and policy, including The National Journal, The Hotline, The National Journal Daily (formerly CongressDaily), The Almanac of American Politics, Daybook and more.
• NBER Working Papers This link opens in a new window Provides full text of all working papers from the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private research organization dedicated to promoting a greater understanding of how the economy works.
• Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window Formerly LexisNexis Academic. Access to major newspapers from around the world, as well as: industry and market news; company financial information; general medical topics; accounting, auditing, and tax information; legal news, law reviews, and case law; and the U.S. and state codes. Please use Google Chrome or IE browsers with this database.
• Political Science Database This link opens in a new window Full text access to over 450 political science and international relations journals as well as dissertations, country reports, and policy papers.
• ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window (Formerly LexisNexis Congressional.) A comprehensive source of Congressional information including bills, hearings, testimonies, and legislative histories.
• ProQuest Research Library Plus This link opens in a new window Covers a wide range of subject matter in both popular and scholarly periodicals. Also includes Proquest's Computing, Education, Religion, Science, Social Science and Telecommunication Journal modules.
• Qualitative Data Repository This link opens in a new window The Qualitative Data Repository (QDR) is a dedicated archive for storing and sharing digital data (and accompanying documentation) generated or collected through qualitative and multi-method research in the social sciences and related disciplines.
• Roper Center Public Opinion Archives (with iPOLL) This link opens in a new window Provided by the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Cornell University, Roper iPoll is the largest collection of public opinion poll data with results from 1935 to the present. Roper iPoll contains nearly 800,000 questions and over 23,000 datasets from both U.S. and international polling firms. Surveys cover any number of topics including, social issues, politics, pop culture, international affairs, science, the environment, and much more. When available, results charts, demographic crosstabs and full datasets are provided for immediate download.
• SAGE Research Methods Core This link opens in a new window Comprehensive online resource providing material to guide users through every step of the research process, including datasets, cases, books, articles and videos. For more information, see Sage Research Methods Libguide
• voxgov This link opens in a new window Provides access to real-time documents, publications, press releases, and social media posts from all branches, offices, agencies, and elected officials of the U.S. Federal Government. Extensive search and filtering options; most content is from 2000-present.
• World News Connection (1995-2013) This link opens in a new window Offers translated and English language news and information compiled from non-United States media sources. Coverage includes political, environmental, scientific, technical, and socioeconomic issues and events. Coverage: 1995-2013. Continued "Foreign Broadcast Information Service Daily Reports," published in print from approx. 1944-1996.
• Worldwide Political Science Abstracts This link opens in a new window Provides citations to the international periodical literature in political science and its complementary fields.

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• Last Updated: May 23, 2024 3:32 PM
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Public Policy Research

• Overview of Policy Research Resources
• News Resources
• Law Resources
• Policy Debate Resources
• Article Resources
• Policy Related Data

Guide to Public Policy Research

This Guide is a link to resources for research into public policy debates.  The subpages listed to the side are intended to link to different resources necessary for understanding different aspects of public policy.

News Resources - This page has links to national and local news resources, useful for finding opinion pieces on policies as well as reporting on political developments.

Law Resources - This page has links to laws on the national, state and local levels as well as court decisions.

Policy Debate Resources - This page has information on legislative debates, information on think tanks, lobbyists and public opinion.

Article Resources - This page has links to resources about political and public policy history and links to databases with public policy research.

Policy Data Resources - This page has links to data that might be useful for policy briefs.

Starting Resources

• CQ : Congressional Quarterly Researcher Provides snapshots of current affairs. Single-themed reports are researched and written by experienced observers from a range of viewpoints. From 1923 to present. more... less... CQ Researcher Reports are published 44 times per year and cover political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the U.S. economy. Each 13,000-word CQ Researcher report is a unique work, investigated and written by a seasoned journalist.
• Policy Commons Policy Commons provides almost 2.5 million fulltext think-tank, agency, and city publications, including policy reports, administrative documents, books, project and campaign documents, working papers and discussion papers, journal articles, press releases, briefs, and brochures.
• Nexis Uni New version of Lexis Nexis Academic. Nexis Uni features news, business, and legal sources, radio and television transcripts, federal and state court cases, U.S. Supreme Court decisions back to 1790, and full-text law review articles. See the Newspapers Research Guide [ link https://researchguides.uic.edu/newspapers/top ] for library database coverage of the top 20 U.S. newspapers.
• PAIS Index (1914 - current) - see also: Public Affairs Information Service International Political, social, and public policy issues, especially any topics that are or might become the subject of legislation. more... less... This database is a bibliographic index with abstracts covering the full range of political, social, and public policy issues, especially any topics that are or might become the subject of legislation. Coverage includes documents published worldwide in any of six languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. The subject headings and abstracts are in English.
• Congress.gov Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. The site provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public. It is presented by the Library of Congress (LOC) using data from the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, the Government Publishing Office, Congressional Budget Office, and the LOC's Congressional Research Service.
• CRS Reports from Congress These documents were prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.
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• Last Updated: Mar 6, 2024 9:42 AM
• URL: https://researchguides.uic.edu/publicpolicy

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Public policy research.

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Social Sciences & Data Literacy Librarian

Leading source of up-to-date demographic data about the United States people and economy.

• PUMS Data The U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) files are a set of untabulated records about individual people or housing units.

Database of census and survey data from around the world integrated across time and space. Users must create a free account to access.

• Bureau of Labor Statistics The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor is the principal Federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.
• California Department of Finance
• Centre for Economic Policy Research: Data set items Relevant datasets for researchers
• Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve often referred to as "the Fed" is the central bank of the United States. Created to help promote a safe and sound monetary and financial system for our nation.
• FRED Economic Research Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Download, graph, and track 672,000 US and international time series from 89 sources
• Forward Exchange Rates on Investing.com
• International Financial Statistics Query International Financial Statistics from the IMF by country, topic, or data source. View charts in your browser and download raw data. Note: This is the open version -- limited data available without subscription.
• Statistics Bureau of Japan (in English)
• OECD Financial Statistics
• Opportunity Atlas Visualize economic opportunity in the United States through an interactive map
• World Bank The World Bank provides free and open access to a comprehensive set of data about development in countries around the globe.
• ICPSR Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research This link opens in a new window ICPSR maintains a data archive of more than 500,000 files of research in the social sciences. It hosts 16 specialized collections of data in education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, terrorism, and other fields.
• The American Enterprise Institute AEI is a community of scholars and supporters committed to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity and strengthening free enterprise.
• The Brookings Institute The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. with a mission to conduct in-depth, nonpartisan research to improve policy and governance at local, national, and global levels.
• Center for American Progress The Center for American Progress is an independent nonpartisan educational institute dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action.
• Center for Economic Policy Research CEPR is Europe’s leading network of Economic Policy Researchers. Over 1700 Fellows and Affiliates, based in institutions throughout Europe and beyond, contribute to our research, events and publications.
• Center for the Study of Social Policy Policy research on children and families. 1979-Current.
• CLASP Center for Law and Social Policy - Data This link opens in a new window CLASP conducts analysis of national, state, and local data to accurately document racial disparities and disparate policy impacts by race to inform our policy recommendations and advocacy.
• Institute for Research on Poverty IRP researches the causes and consequences of poverty and inequality in the United States. We bring together social scientists from across research disciplines such as economics, sociology, social work, and demography. The result is a well-rounded understanding of poverty issues.
• Measure of America-SSRC Project Measure of America provides easy-to-use yet methodologically sound tools for understanding the distribution of well-being and opportunity in America and stimulating fact-based dialogue about issues we all care about: health, education, and living standards.

A nonpartisan fact tank that publishes public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis, and other data-driven social science research.

• RAND Corporation Economic and social policy with a historical focus on military research.
• Southern Poverty Law Center A nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society.
• Urban Institute "At Urban, we believe that data and evidence are essential to shaping a more inclusive, equitable, and just society."
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Shrinking the Term Structure

We propose a new framework to explain the factor structure in the full cross section of Treasury bond returns. Our method unifies non-parametric curve estimation with cross-sectional factor modeling. We identify smoothness as a fundamental principle of the term structure of returns. Our approach implies investable factors, which correspond to the optimal spanning basis functions in decreasing order of smoothness. Our factors explain the slope and curvature shapes frequently encountered in PCA. In a comprehensive empirical study, we show that the first four factors explain the time-series variation and risk premia of the term structure of excess returns. Cash flows are covariances as the exposure of bonds to factors is fully explained by cash flow information. We identify a state-dependent complexity premium. The fourth factor, which captures complex shapes of the term structure premium, substantially reduces pricing errors and pays off during recessions.

We thank Robert Anderson, Michael Bauer, Xiaohong Chen, Richard Crump, Darrell Duffie, Kay Giesecke, Lisa Goldberg, Nikolay Gospodinov, Tze Lai, Martin Lettau, Aaron Sidford, Irina Zviadadze (discussant), and seminar and conference participants at Stanford, UC Berkeley, University of Cincinnati, Korean Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, Korean Business School, Balyasny Asset Management, the Annual Meeting of the European Finance Association and the Conference on Computational and Financial Econometrics for helpful comments. We thank Rose Wang for excellent research assistance. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

MARC RIS BibTeΧ

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In addition to working papers , the NBER disseminates affiliates’ latest findings through a range of free periodicals — the NBER Reporter , the NBER Digest , the Bulletin on Retirement and Disability , the Bulletin on Health , and the Bulletin on Entrepreneurship  — as well as online conference reports , video lectures , and interviews .

Rosenkranz Prize winner investigates impact of price controls on contraceptives

Natalia Serna , an assistant professor of health policy and a faculty fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), has been awarded this year’s Rosenkranz Prize for her research examining how price ceilings on oral contraceptives impact women’s health and their access to medicine in low- to middle-income countries, particularly those of Latin America.

The Dr. George Rosenkranz Prize is awarded by the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Stanford Health Policy to Stanford researchers of all disciplines doing innovative work to improve health in low- to middle-income countries. It is endowed by the family of the late scientist who devoted his career to improving health-care access across the world.

Serna explores large scale health systems and institutions in low- to middle-income countries with the goal of informing the design of health insurance markets and the provision of public programs in these countries.

The $100,000 award will allow Serna to focus on the oral contraceptives market in Colombia. She notes that Latin America has the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the world, due to the lack of access to and the high cost of oral contraceptives. In 2019, the government of Colombia imposed price ceilings on 64 oral contraceptive brands that were being sold at prices three times higher than in Canada and Norway.

Drug spending in Colombia represents 21 percent of total health-care costs and increased by 4 percentage points between 2013 and 2018, Serna said. To control these significant hikes, the government imposes price ceilings for prescriptions and over-the-counter medications. While these efforts lead to regulated oral contraceptive prices dropping by 60 percent and an increase of sales by 35 percent, Serna said little is known about the impact price controls have had on women’s’ health, access to affordable medications, health outcomes and distribution across disadvantaged groups such as low-income mothers.

While it appears logical that capping the price of contraceptives would improve access, it can have the opposite effect by hurting supply. This conundrum is at the heart of Serna’s project: to test for the best model that balances supply and demand.

“I hope that this research will inform governments in low- to middle-income countries on the best policies to control medication prices and on the potential unintended consequences of price controls on patient health,” Serna said. “The equilibrium model of the market for oral contraceptives will allow us to simulate welfare and health effects of different price setting mechanisms such as centralized government bargaining.”

She believes this research will expand our understanding of scalable health systems in developing countries by analyzing rich administrative datasets and answering questions related to the design of health-care markets, the evaluation of government health-care policies, and the simulation of market mechanisms to improve patient health.

“The selection committee was highly impressed by Natalia, an outstanding young health economist, and her work studying the role of price regulations for oral contraceptives in Colombia,” said Grant Miller , the Henry J. Kaiser, Jr. Professor of Health Policy at Stanford School of Medicine, chair of the Rosenkranz Prize selection committee and a senior fellow at SIEPR. “Price regulations are common policy tools to make drugs more accessible in many countries — but they also can backfire, stifling supply. Natalia’s project will identify the intended and unintended consequences of such price regulations and provide evidence on alternative approaches that may better achieve the social goals of promoting accessibility while also not hampering supply, with broad implications for health policy and health in many countries around the world.”

Serna will travel to Colombia to evaluate large datasets from the Colombian Drug and Safety Agency database, the Ministry of Health’s Price Information System for Medications and Medical Devices, as well as the Ministry of Health’s anonymized, individual-level health claims data from 2018 to 2019 and data, which shows every birth and death from 2009 to 2021, including weight at birth, insurance status and cause of death.

Combining this data, Serna will pursue four research goals:

• Quantify the causal effect of price ceiling regulation on prices and quantities of oral contraceptives in Colombia.
• Quantify the casual effect of oral contraceptive price regulation on access to medications and women’s health outcomes.
• Explore heterogeneous effects of the policy across different income groups, insurance stats and geographies.
• Design a supply-and-demand model of the market for oral contraceptives to assess the impact of alternative policies for price controls, such as government bargaining with drug manufacturers.

“Being awarded the Rosenkranz Prize is a testament that investigating the scalability of health systems in low- to middle-income countries is valuable for policy and market design, as well as for population health,” said Serna.

The health economist notes that analysts typically study how governments help their citizens get good health insurance and how insurance companies decide which hospitals to work with — but this research is mostly done in high-income countries.

“Answering these questions for low- to middle-income countries that share similar market structure is important for the goal of reducing health disparities around the globe,” she said.

A version of this story was originally published May 21, 2024 by Stanford Health Policy.

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Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD

The professor of health policy has been awarded the 2024 Bradley Foundation Award, which includes a $250,000 stipend. The foundation selected Bhattacharya for his work as a “visionary who stands for the integrity of scientific debate and the promotion of sound public policy.” Bhattacharya will donate the stipend for the award to the UK charity Collateral Global, which supports research on the lingering collateral harms of the COVID-19 lockdown on children, the poor and other vulnerable populations.

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China’s Approach to Foreign Policy Gets Largely Negative Reviews in 24-Country Survey

Still, views of china – and its soft power – are more positive in middle-income countries, table of contents.

• Road map to the report
• How views of China have changed in recent years
• Views of China by age group
• How views of China’s international behavior have changed over time
• Most say China does not contribute to world peace and stability
• China seen as interventionist
• How opinions about which country is the world’s top economy have changed in recent years
• Many who see China as the world’s leading economic power also see it as a good thing
• Chinese investment seen as an economic benefit
• How views of Chinese soft power vary by age
• Views of Chinese technology
• How confidence in Xi has changed over time
• How confidence in Xi varies by age
• Acknowledgments
• Methodology

This Pew Research Center analysis focuses on public opinion of China and President Xi Jinping in 24 countries in North America, Europe, the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific region, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. The report explores views of China’s role in the world, including as an economic power, and perceptions of Chinese soft power. This is the first year since 2019 that the Global Attitudes Survey has included countries from Africa and Latin America, which were not included more recently due to the coronavirus outbreak .

For non-U.S. data, this report draws on nationally representative surveys of 27,285 adults conducted from Feb. 20 to May 22, 2023. All surveys were conducted over the phone with adults in Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Surveys were conducted face to face in Argentina, Brazil, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland and South Africa. In Australia, we used a mixed-mode probability-based online panel.

In the United States, we surveyed 3,576 U.S. adults from March 20 to 26, 2023. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s methodology .

Here are the questions used for the report , along with responses, and the survey methodology .

Views of China are broadly negative across 24 countries in a new Pew Research Center survey: A median of 67% of adults express unfavorable views of the country, while 28% have a favorable opinion.

Negative views extend to evaluations of China’s international actions. Despite several high-profile diplomatic initiatives by Beijing over the past year – such as brokering a peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran and issuing a 12-point proposal for the end of violence in Ukraine – a median of 71% think China does not contribute to global peace and stability.

Most people also think China does not take into account the interests of other countries in its foreign policy (76%) and a median of 57% say China interferes in the affairs of other nations a great deal or fair amount.

Still, attitudes toward China are somewhat rosier in middle-income than high-income countries. Across eight middle-income countries – places Pew Research Center has not surveyed since 2019 due to the challenges of conducting face-to-face interviews during the pandemic – India stands out as the only middle-income country in which a majority has unfavorable views of China. And in three middle-income countries – Kenya, Mexico and Nigeria – a majority even gives China a positive rating.

Fewer in these middle-income countries also criticize China’s global behavior, and many more see China’s “soft power” appeal. Indeed, publics in these middle-income countries offer relatively favorable ratings for China’s entertainment products, its universities and its standard of living – while few in most high-income countries agree.

Across all 24 countries surveyed, however, there is more agreement about China’s technology. A median of 69% describe China’s technological achievements as the best or above average relative to other wealthy nations, with similar shares in high- and middle-income countries. A median of 54% also see China’s military as among the best in the world.

But views of the country as the world’s foremost economic power have faltered somewhat in recent years. More people now name the United States as the top economic power than China (a median of 42% vs. 33%, respectively). Much of this shift has come in high-income countries, where the share naming China has fallen in nearly every surveyed country – including by double digits in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden.

In the U.S., where equal shares (43%) called China and the U.S. the world’s leading economic power in 2022, views have shifted significantly over the past year ; now, Americans are 10 percentage points more likely to name the U.S. than China (48% vs. 38%). (For more on American views of China, read “ Americans are Critical of China’s Global Role – as Well as Its Relationship With Russia ”.)

These findings come from a new Pew Research Center survey conducted from Feb. 20 to May 22, 2023, among more than 30,000 people in 24 countries. Below are some of the other findings regarding China’s overall image, views of Chinese foreign policy, ratings of President Xi Jinping, opinions about Chinese soft power and its economic power.

Overall ratings for China

Across many high-income countries surveyed, which are in North America, Western Europe and parts of the Asia-Pacific region, a large majority has unfavorable views of China, as has been the case for multiple years . Indeed, in almost every high-income country surveyed, negative views currently stand at or near historic highs. In most countries, this does not reflect a significant increase over last year; rather, negative views have simply remained high in recent years. One notable exception is Poland, where negative views have increased 12 points during a period of strained bilateral relations , perhaps related to China’s handling of the war in Ukraine.

Views of China in middle-income countries are relatively more positive. Still, negative ratings in most of these countries have also grown since the countries were last surveyed, pre-pandemic. In South Africa and Mexico, for example, opinions have turned somewhat more negative since 2019, and in Argentina, Brazil and India, negative views have even reached historic highs. In India, military conflicts along a contested border may have contributed to the 21 percentage point increase in unfavorable opinion.

China’s role on the world stage

Majorities in most countries do not think China takes into account the interests of countries like theirs. In Canada, France, Israel, Spain and Sweden, around half or more say China doesn’t consider them at all . Only in the three sub-Saharan African countries surveyed, as well as in Indonesia, does around half or more of the public feel like China listens to their country.

A median of 71% also think China does little or nothing at all to contribute to global peace and stability, compared with a median of 23% who say it is doing a great deal or a fair amount. Australians, Canadians, Indians, Israelis and South Koreans are particularly likely to say China is doing nothing at all to help with global peace and stability.

Most also see China as an interventionist power. A median of 57% say China does interfere a great deal or a fair amount in the affairs of other countries, while a median of 35% say it does not do so much or at all. Around seven-in-ten or more in Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Spain and the U.S. see China getting involved in the affairs of other countries – and many of these places also stood out for the high share who said China’s involvement in domestic politics in their own country was a very serious problem in a 2022 Pew Research Center survey .

But the country which is most likely to see China interfering in the affairs of other countries in this year’s survey is Italy (82%). Italy, which was the only G7 country to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) , was debating leaving the initiative at the time that the survey was conducted, but treading delicately for fear of stoking possible Chinese retribution against Italian businesses.

Attitudes toward Xi

Few in the 24 countries surveyed have confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping to do the right thing regarding world affairs. Across most of Western Europe, the U.S., Canada and much of the Asia-Pacific region, around half in each country say they have no confidence in him at all . Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa stand out as the only countries where a majority or plurality have confidence in his leadership.

Confidence in Xi is closely related to views of China more broadly. In each country surveyed people with unfavorable views of China are more likely to have little confidence in the Chinese president, and vice versa.

Chinese soft power

When it comes to elements often considered part of a country’s “soft power,” China’s technological achievements receive high marks, though fewer say the same about its universities, entertainment products or standard of living.

In fact, outside of South Korea, nearly half or more in every country say Chinese technological advancements are the best in the world or above average relative to other wealthy nations. And in many of the middle-income countries, around four-in-ten call Chinese technology the best in the world.

Middle-income countries – many of which are increasingly reliant on Chinese companies like Huawei for components of their 4G and 5G systems – were also asked specifically about technology such as phones, tablets or computers made by Chinese companies. Across these eight countries, there is a relatively widespread sense that these products are well-made. Middle-income publics are more divided when it comes to their cost: A median of 50% describe them as inexpensive, while 44% call them costly.

They are also somewhat divided when it comes to whether technological products made by Chinese companies protect people’s personal data (a median of 45%) or make their data unsafe (40%). (Americans were asked a different but related question about Chinese social media companies; large majorities have little confidence that they will use personal information responsibly or follow privacy policies.)

In every country, at least a plurality – and often a majority – also see China’s “hard power,” its military, as one of the best in the world or above average.

Chinese economic power

Fewer name China as the world’s leading economic power than the U.S. (a median of 33% vs. 42%). And, in many countries, the share naming China as the world’s leading economy has gone down in recent years.

Interestingly, China’s image as an economic superpower is stronger in high-income countries than middle-income ones. Italy, for example, is the only country where a majority (55%) calls China the leading economic power.

Still, people in middle-income countries do recognize economic benefits from their relations with China. A different survey question, asked only in these countries, finds that around half or more in six middle-income countries say their nation’s economy has benefited a great deal or a fair amount from Chinese investment. In Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, around seven-in-ten or more say this.

In the U.S., Americans were also asked to name the country which poses the top threat to the U.S. Not only was China the top answer, by far, but Americans see it as both an economic and a national security threat – in sharp contrast to Russia, which is primarily seen as a security threat. To read more about this related analysis, see “ Americans name China as the top threat facing the U.S. ”

The chapters that follow discuss these findings and others in more detail:

• Chapter 1 looks at overall opinion of China across the countries surveyed, including how perceptions have shifted over the years
• Chapter 2 considers the negative and positive roles China plays in international affairs
• Chapter 3 reviews global public opinion about which country is the world’s leading economic power
• Chapter 4 explores perceptions of Chinese soft power, summarizing how people across 24 countries rate China compared with other wealthy nations
• Chapter 5 examines confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping to do the right thing in world affairs

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How people in hong kong view mainland china and their own identity, in east asia, many people see china’s power and influence as a major threat, u.s.-germany relationship remains solid, but underlying policy differences begin to show, how views of the u.s., china and their leaders have changed over time, most popular, report materials.

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Approximately one in nine U.S. children diagnosed with ADHD, as new national study highlights an 'ever-expanding' public health concern

One million more children in the u.s. are diagnosed with adhd in 2022 than in 2016.

An exploration into the national U.S. dataset on children ever diagnosed with ADHD has revealed an "ongoing and ever-expanding" public health issue.

Findings published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology uncover that approximately one million more children, aged 3-17, had received an ADHD diagnosis in 2022 than in 2016.

The paper reveals around one in nine children have ever received an ADHD diagnosis -- 11.4%, or 7.1 million children. Some 6.5 million children (10.5%) currently live with ADHD.

Among children currently living with ADHD, 58.1% have moderate or severe ADHD. 77.9% have at least one co-occurring disorder, approximately half of children with current ADHD (53.6%) received ADHD medication, and 44.4% had received behavioral treatment for ADHD in the past year. Nearly one third (30.1%) did not receive any ADHD-specific treatment.

The results follow an analysis of the 2022 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) dataset. They demonstrate that the estimated prevalence of ADHD (based on a parent report) is higher in the United States than comparable estimates from other countries.

The expert team of authors come from institutions including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, and the Health Resources and Services Administration.

In the paper, the team explains the increase of ADHD prevalence can partially be explained by "sociodemographic and child characteristics," whilst they state societal context can also "contribute to the overall trends in the diagnosis of ADHD." These include the context around children's mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Public awareness of ADHD has changed over time. ADHD was historically described as an externalizing disorder with a focus on easily observable hyperactive-impulsive symptoms, and was thought to primarily affect boys," the authors say.

"With increased awareness of symptoms related to attention regulation, ADHD has been increasingly recognized in girls, adolescents, and adults.

"Moreover, ADHD has previously been diagnosed at lower rates among children in some racial and ethnic minority groups. With increased awareness, such gaps in diagnoses have been narrowing or closing.

"Circumstances related to the pandemic may also have increased the likelihood that a child's ADHD symptoms could cause impairment. For example, in families where children needed to engage in virtual classroom learning while parents were also working from home, previously manageable ADHD symptoms may have become more impairing or symptoms that were previously unobserved by parents may have become recognizable."

The aim of this new paper was to provide updated U.S. prevalence estimates of diagnosed ADHD; ADHD severity; co-occurring disorders; and receipt of ADHD medication and behavioral treatment.

The team assessed 45,483 completed interviews, monitoring, as well, differences in demographic and clinical subgroups. Questions asked parents for details such as the severity of the condition.

Findings highlight how socioeconomic and geographic factors play a part in diagnosis/prevalence of ADHD.

For example:

• Asian and Hispanic/Latino children had a lower prevalence of diagnosed ADHD than White children.
• Children living in households with high school as the highest level of education and lower-income households had a higher prevalence than children living in households with more education and with income ≥200% of the federal poverty level, respectively.
• Children with public insurance (with or without private insurance) had a higher prevalence than children with private insurance alone.
• Prevalence was also higher for children living in the Northeast, Midwest, or South compared to those living in the West and for children living in rural or suburban areas compared to children living in urban areas.

The results also demonstrated how such factors impacted upon medicated treatment:

• Hispanic children and children living in non-English-speaking households had a lower prevalence of taking ADHD medication than non-Hispanic children and children living in primarily English-speaking homes, respectively.
• A higher prevalence of children with both public and private insurance were taking ADHD medication than children with private insurance only.
• A higher prevalence of children living in the Midwest and South were taking ADHD medication compared to children in the West.

Other behavioral treatments, such as mental health counseling, also followed similar patterns. Explaining the findings further, the authors state: "Shifts in patterns of treatments may also be affected by changes in the demographic distribution of who receives ADHD diagnoses.

"There is evidence that the sex difference for diagnosis of ADHD may be narrowing; in prior years, the ratio of boys to girls diagnosed with ADHD was more than 2:1."

Concluding, the team state that they hope their findings can be used by clinicians to understand diagnosis and treatment patterns to better inform clinical practice. As well, they hope it could be used by policymakers, government agencies, health care systems, public health practitioners, and other partners to plan for the needs of children with ADHD, such as by ensuring access to care and services for ADHD.

Future research, the team states, could investigate patterns of service delivery during and after the pandemic; as well as modes of ADHD service delivery; uptake and discontinuation of ADHD medication; and receipt of evidence-based behavioral treatment and other recommended services such as school services.

This study is subject to a number of limitations, including it being based on a survey of parent recall and reporting decisions and have not been validated against medical records or clinical judgment.

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Journal Reference :

• Melissa L. Danielson, Angelika H. Claussen, Rebecca H. Bitsko, Samuel M. Katz, Kimberly Newsome, Stephen J. Blumberg, Michael D. Kogan, Reem Ghandour. ADHD Prevalence Among U.S. Children and Adolescents in 2022: Diagnosis, Severity, Co-Occurring Disorders, and Treatment . Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology , 2024; 1 DOI: 10.1080/15374416.2024.2335625

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Rise to the enormous challenges before you, Ambassador Nicholas Burns urges HKS Class of 2024

Public service is written into Harvard Kennedy School’s DNA, Burns said, and urged graduates to “change the world for the better.” 

Public service is written into Harvard Kennedy School’s DNA, Nicholas Burns, U.S. ambassador to China and a former HKS professor, told the crowd of graduating HKS students and their families on Wednesday as the speaker for the HKS Graduation Address . He urged graduates to confront the “seemingly overwhelming challenges” of the world they are heading out into and “find the collective vision, the collective faith, the collective courage to do something about it.”

“The world needs change,” Burns said. “The world needs your help. Change the world, change it for the better, make it more humane, make it more just, make it more prosperous, make it more peaceful.”

Burns, who taught at the Kennedy School for 13 years before returning to public service in 2021, spoke to an audience of 659 graduating students from 35 U.S. states and 87 countries, calling them “our planet in microcosm.” The student body is 56% international, one of the most cosmopolitan classes in the School’s history. They will be granted their diplomas Thursday on Commencement Day.

Dean Doug Elmendorf introduced Burns, who before joining HKS’s faculty served as the most senior U.S. Foreign Service official and led negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, as a “stellar example of principled and effective public service.”

“Ambassador Burns ... is a wonderful model for our graduates as they leave the Kennedy School and go on to lives as public leaders and public-minded citizens—in this country and around the world,” said Elmendorf, who is overseeing his last Commencement celebrations before returning to teaching after eight years as dean.

Burns spoke about the incredible reach of the Kennedy School. In China, he has repeatedly run into HKS alums. He described attending Easter Mass in Beijing’s North Cathedral in April. “There's a point in the Catholic mass where you turn to the person beside you when you say, ‘Peace be with you,’” Burns said. “And so that point came in the mass, and I turned to my left and before I could say anything, this young woman said, ‘Professor Burns, peace be with you. I was in your great powers class in 2014.’”

“You could be overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the challenges before your class, and we really couldn't blame you. Or you could find the collective vision, the collective faith, the collective courage to do something about it.”

Nicholas burns.

Burns turned to the enormous challenges the world faces, citing issues such as attacks on democracy, climate change, risks from new technologies, and brutal wars.  

“These are seemingly overwhelming challenges ...  [and] heavy issues to contemplate on what should be a celebratory day,” Burns said. “But it is the real world you're going to inherit when you leave Harvard after tomorrow.”

“I do believe you can be change agents,” Burns said. “And as a Kennedy School network you have that opportunity, but you also have the obligation as a Kennedy School graduate to be that change.”

Alluding to President Kennedy’s famous challenge to Americans—words that the Kennedy School has made its own—Burns reminded the graduates that their obligation is not to themselves but to humanity.

“It’s, ‘Ask what you can do.’ It’s not, ‘What will I gain?’ It’s not, ‘What will I profit from?’ It’s not, ‘What’s in it for me?’ It’s, ‘Ask what you can do to make this a better world.’ The Kennedy School asks that you not just be involved in the world but to be great in the world.”  

“You could be overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the challenges before your class, and we really couldn't blame you,” Burns said. “Or you could find the collective vision, the collective faith, the collective courage to do something about it.” 

Burns also addresses what he described as “the elephant in the room”—the brutal Israel-Hamas conflict, which has claimed more than 35,000 lives, and the deep fissures it has created on American campuses.  

“You know this far better than me. You've been here on campus. I've been 7,000 miles away in China. I don't come here to be judge and jury,” he said. Echoing the themes of Harvard Kennedy School’s Candid and Constructive Conversations initiative , he urged students to reach across differences with understanding and humility.  

“All I can offer today is a sense of my own experience as a diplomat in dealing with difficult emotional discussions about polarization, about injustice, about the tragedy that every life lost is a loss for humanity, about looking at both sides to a conflict."

“So as you graduate tomorrow,” he continued, “consider how you in small and big ways can be a force for civil discussion. Civil debate in a democracy, can you be a force for unity in a world that sometimes it appears just wants to divide and even disintegrate, be that voice for compassion, learning, understanding, and unity.” 

Ambassador Nicholas Burns's remarks as delivered

Thank you. Good afternoon, everybody. Good afternoon. And Congratulations to the Class of 2024. Why don't you all stand up so we can see you?  Whoa, that's a beautiful sight. There are 659 Kennedy School students graduating today from all of our programs, masters and PhD. It's a beautiful day. It's a little hot, but it's a beautiful day under this tent in John F. Kennedy Park. I'm thrilled to be back out of China for about a week back home. My wife, Libby, my daughter Elizabeth, her friend Andrew all here, Cathryn Clüver, Professor O'Sullivan, thank you for this return. We're going to have a memorable graduation tomorrow. I know my place: not to screw it up.

I graduated from Boston College 46 years ago. We had a very distinguished speaker. He waxed enthusiastically, laboriously and an exquisite detail about the minutiae of federal communications policy for 45 minutes. So the lesson for me today is I don't want to be that guy, and that's because there's only one subject for a graduation speech. In the United States these days, it shouldn't be federal communications policy. It shouldn't be the war in Ukraine. It shouldn't be any other single subject that you've studied here over the last couple of years. The graduation speech has to be about you, about your place as graduates, as individuals, and your class's place as a collective entity, 659 of you all around the world. You really deserve this day because you came here, some of you two years ago, some of you a year ago as the pandemic was subsiding. And I remember as a professor here what it was like in the dark days of 2020 and 2021. And when you came here, Zoom Harvard gave way to classroom Harvard again and we could come back to this campus, so you've had a fairly normal two years here, but you deserve this day. Whether you're one of the 232 students graduating as Master in Public Policy, one of the 89 students graduating in Master in Public Administration in International Development, one of the 87 students is Master in Public Administration, the largest group, 226 Mid-Career MPA students, and finally 25 new PhD graduates. That's a very high number for Harvard Kennedy School.

Every graduation speaker tells the class, "You're really special," but your class is actually unique. 56% of you are international students. It's the highest level in the history of Harvard Kennedy School. Congratulations to all of our friends from overseas. You represent 87 countries. So you know what? You're a planet in microcosm. You're a network that's formed in a world that's built on network where nearly everything that's difficult in the world or every opportunity in the world can only be decided these days, not by the United States alone or China alone, by the whole world together, and that's one way to think about your class as a network. I've been back here for a day and a half. I hadn't been on the campus for two and a half years. It's been really exciting to hang out with my friends, the professors, to see a lot of students. I met five great students in the tent today, Pickering and Rangel Fellows from the U.S. Department of State—they'll be American diplomats within a couple of months. Can I ask the five of you to stand so we can see you, because we're really proud of you? Future ambassadors—just not next year, but future ambassadors. Yesterday, and you won't be surprised, I'm ambassador to China, I met with 25 of you who've been here from the People's Republic of China. We're proud of you too, and thank you for being 25 of the 300,000 Chinese students in the United States. You're very welcome in our country.

Speaking of China, maybe you won't be amazed by this, but it's interesting. I see Harvard Kennedy School students everywhere in China. I caught a glimpse of one of my students. She was riding a bike. I was crossing a busy Beijing street. She said, "Hey, Professor Burns," and she vanished. I bumped into another student, Libby and I, in a hotel in Nanjing, and he told me all about his career in business. He's done really well since he graduated from our school. And just last month, Libby and I were at Easter Sunday Mass at the North Cathedral in Beijing. And there's a point in the Catholic Mass where you turn to the person beside you when you say, "Peace be with you," and so that point came in the mass and I turned to my left and before I could say anything, this young woman said, "Professor Burns, peace be with you. I was in your Great Powers class in 2014." I thought, "What a small world," right beside Libby and I at Easter Sunday Mass.

It's one of Harvard's secret powers. Keep your network alive from your 87 countries. Have reunions. Come back to this campus. Think of yourself, you've been through this amazing, extraordinary, challenging, difficult experience together. Stay united. And in that respect, I see a lot of moms and dads, and grandparents, and nieces and nephews and friends. The graduates know they couldn't have gotten here without their moms and dads and sisters and brothers. Maybe the graduates should give them a round of applause. And at these commencements, and we've been to a lot of them, always a privilege to be at a commencement. It's such a hopeful day. Thank you, Harvard faculty, Harvard Kennedy School staff, thank you for what you do to make this a great, great school. I want to thank our dean, whom I've known and worked with for a long time. I want to thank him for his leadership and his friendship, and thank you for inviting me back to Cambridge, Massachusetts, Doug.

I left graduate school 400 years ago, it seems like that sometimes. And I just wanted to find my way forward. I wasn't completely sure what I wanted to do, but I wanted to be an American diplomat. My generation of American public service came of age just after Vietnam, and that was a searing conflict for all of America. Just after the tragic assassinations of three of our greatest leaders: President Kennedy for whom our school is named, Martin Luther King, Senator Robert Kennedy. When for African Americans, their dream of equality was a dream deferred and had not been given to them—it still hasn't in many ways by our country. And our politics were mired in corruption— Watergate—and we had double-digit inflation, we were in a deep recession. It was a troubling time. I think a lot of my colleagues, male and female, went into the government because we just wanted our country to be a positive global influence. We wanted to get our country back into engaging with the rest of the world, and I'm forever grateful for those years in public service. It gave me the opportunity, and a lot of my friends, to work on really consequential issues over the last couple of decades. The fact that the Soviet Union and communism collapsed in Europe was an epocha event. 9/11, one of the worst days in our history, I was at NATO as ambassador. All the NATO countries within six, seven hours said, "We're with you," and they invoked Article 5 to come to the defense of the United States.

That was an incredible day to feel that we had something in common with Canada and the European countries. And then there's the other side of the coin. The really difficult issues—our ill-fated wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I was part of that. And we had to account for that and think about it and try to understand the lessons of those two wars, and I taught courses here where we thought about the lessons of those wars. Many of our graduates today have been public servants or will become public servants, so they know the intrinsic value of what it's like to be in public service. You're in an enterprise, in a job with a team that's bigger than you, that's more important than you. A team that's pointed forward towards a goal, whether you're a Brazilian or Indonesian, or South African or German, wherever you're from in the world of the United States of America. There's something really beautiful about that enterprise government, and it's been interesting for me and really heartening to go back to government and be part of that team. It's a chance to contribute to your children's world and your grandchildren's world. And when I retired in 2008 the first time, I thought, "How can I continue to be a public servant in another vein?" And thankfully I'd worked with four people who had left Harvard to go into the U.S. government and come back to Harvard, Professor Graham Allison, Professor Joe Nye, Professor Larry Summers and our great friend, the late Professor Ash Carter. And they said, "Come to Harvard and teach," and I hesitated. I hadn't been in a classroom since my student days. I'd never taught before. I'm not a PhD. And frankly, negotiating the Iran nuclear issue, that was one thing. Standing in front of a class of Harvard graduate students, a little bit daunting. Professors don't like to tell you that, but it's true. But I agreed to try it for a year and I stayed for 13.

I loved everything about the Kennedy School, and that's really come flooding back for Libby and me in the last two days. I love the mission. Look at these banners—“Ask what you can do.” I love Professor Allison's description of the unique value of the Kennedy School. Here's what he said. He said, there's an intellectual union of the young and the old. The young, that's all of you, energy, creativity, optimism. The old, that's me and a couple of other professors here. We've got more yesterdays than tomorrows. We've got a little bit of life experience and, perhaps, a bit of wisdom to contribute in the classroom. I'll tell you what I really loved. I loved looking out in my class. I taught big classes, 50, 60 students, and the extraordinary kaleidoscope of ethnic, racial and religious and gender diversity in this class fundamentally different than the classrooms I'd been in four or five decades ago as a college and graduate student.

That was really inspiring, and it was really inspiring to see who was in the front row of those classrooms. Invariably immigrants, invariably first-generation Americans, refugees to the United States, people who came from families who in many cases had not had anybody go to university because they weren't given access to a university degree. That was a beautiful memory that I have of Harvard Kennedy School. In my very first week here, it was September, President Drew Faust was a great university president. She sent an email to 20,000 people in the Harvard community, and it was an email about what was going to happen during the school year. And at the very end of that email, as I remember it, she said, "But the fundamental purpose of Harvard University is the pursuit of knowledge." Four words, “the pursuit of knowledge.” That made a huge impression on me. I come from the government where we have 4,000 missions. She was articulating one mission. Harvard's mission was extraordinary, I thought, to research and study everything about everything, every subject in every academic and intellectual discipline. I found that really exciting and really meaningful. Think of the power of this university and of every university, the power to investigate the past. The poems of Emily Dickinson, the impact of the Napoleonic Wars, the women's suffrage movement in the 19th and 20th century.

Universities have a power to drive the future, artificial technology, robotics, quantum science, cancer research. Universities move the humanities forward and they shine a path toward the future and they free minds and they ensure free speech and free thinking and people who speak up and people who stand their ground. That's beautiful about this University and this School and all universities. So my advice—and you haven't asked me for it, but a speaker is supposed to give it—take that power and freedom of imagination and inquiry. Take the innovation with you to the next stage of your life.

So when you think about it, every time people graduate, every time there's a speaker speaking, or so it seems, there's one theme. You're graduating, you're leaving this world for another world outside the tent, outside the gates, outside the fence of the university. The world needs change. The world needs your help. Change the world, change it for the better, make it more humane. Make it more just, make it more prosperous, make it more peaceful, and we need peace in 2024. Now, I realize that that sounds a little bit like a Hallmark card, a little bit naive. It'd be asking a bit much for your class to cure cancer or make world peace in your first year out. But change however small or large, however incremental or transformative, it's still the right message. It's still the right goal because graduations serve as a changing mechanism. They're a changing of the guard from the old generation to your new generation, and we're handing that baton leadership out off to you today. And I've got to tell you, my generation is leaving you an imperfect world, imperfect. Forgive us.

Here are just a few of the challenges that your class is going to face in the next decade or so. Climate change. It's the existential threat to 8 billion people on earth, the existential threat to humanity, and we are lagging behind. We're lagging behind in limiting the average global increase to 1.5 degrees centigrade. Find a way to get us back on course. There's nothing more important for all of us in this tent and all future generations beyond. Second, technology has moved to the very center of global politics. We see the enormous promise in biotechnology, quantum science, robotics, and AI. We also see the dark side, the forbidding example, a risk for, example, of trying to manage AI in a nuclear weapons world. So find a way to get that balance on technology right. Third, democracy is under assault in the United States and other countries, challenged from within in many cases by anti-democratic forces, and challenged from without by authoritarian countries trying to change the world order and diminish the inherent rights, human rights that all people in all countries have. Defend democracy.

Fourth, brutal wars have broken out in Ukraine, Russia's assault on Ukraine, in Israel and Gaza, in parts of Africa. The highest priority in international politics should be, stop the wars and end the bloodshed. Fifth, there are a multitude of what we would call transnational problems. Problems that are flowing under and over, and right through everybody's borders. They know no borders. Let me just list a couple, cyber aggression, the race for dominance in space, global health challenges, billions of people, more than 2 billion still below the global poverty line. Human trafficking, trafficking of women and children. Ever more powerful drug and criminal cartels, alarming income inequality all over the world, and of course, terrorism. These are seemingly overwhelming challenges, and we could add, if we went around this tent and ask for ideas, a thousand more. These are the defining challenges of our time. Use your HKS network around the world, across borders to coalesce to fight these challenges.

Now I have to admit, these are heavy issues to contemplate on what should be a celebratory day for all of you. Forgive me, once again, but it is the real world you're going to inherit when you leave Harvard after tomorrow, after you get your degree. My wife, Libby, came to one of my lectures at Harvard a couple of years ago on the subject of these transnational challenges in this period of racing global change. And we were walking home here in Cambridge, just down Brattle Street after the lecture, and I said, "How'd that go, Libby?" She said, "You're depressing everybody." She said, "All that talk about nuclear war and climate change; there are problems in the world, of course, but you've got to give people hope," and Libby as always was right. The last thing I want to do is depress you all and your families the day before graduation, so let's talk about hope. Let's talk about hope. I do believe you can be change agents, and as a Kennedy School network you have that opportunity, but you also have the obligation as a Kennedy School graduate to be that change agent.

The Kennedy School's very different from a lot of schools. You studied under banners—and we've got them here today as I pointed out—and those banners are from President Kennedy for whom the school is named: “Ask what you can do”. It's not, “What will I gain?” It's not, “Wwhat will I profit from?” It's not, “What's in it for me?” It's, “Ask what you can do to make this a better world.” And the Kennedy School asks that you not just be involved in the world, but be great in the world as individuals. Great in the truest sense—have an impact in the world, both as individuals and as a class. And in that regard, we had another speaker in Harvard Yard in September 1943. It was Winston Churchill who came to Harvard in the middle of the Second World War. And he challenged Harvard students way back then with a message that is strikingly, I think, relevant to your class today.

Here's what he said to the Harvard students in 1943, "The price of greatness is responsibility," Churchill said. "One cannot rise to be in many ways the leading country in the world without being involved in the world's problems convulsed by its agonies and inspired by its causes. The people of the United States," Churchill concluded, "cannot escape world responsibility." That was a powerful message to a country that had been isolationist. And if you look at the public opinion polls in America today, we've got some isolationist sentiment back. How is that possible in a time when we are all connected around the world—and your class personifies that—when the only way forward is to combine forces with people, students, universities around the world? That's an important warning that we might recall from the memory of 1943. You've got an opportunity to lead and you have an obligation to lead, and you know you have a choice too.

You could be overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the challenges before your class, and we really couldn't blame you. Or you could find the collective vision, the collective faith, the collective courage to do something about it. Previous generations were overwhelmed too, by a multitude of problems, but as so often happens, farsighted, courageous people stood up to lead. Think of Lincoln writing the Emancipation Proclamation. Think of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton asserting that women have fundamental rights in the 19th century. Think of Dr. Martin Luther King writing a single letter from a Birmingham jail that changed history. Think of Nelson Mandela, 27 years in prison, and yet he emerged to dismantle apartheid and create a multiracial South Africa just three decades ago. Think of the courage of a Polish Pope, Karol Wojtyła who stood up against soulless communism. Think of the courage in our day of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy standing up to a wicked despot in Vladimir Putin. Think of the bravery of your commencement speaker at Harvard tomorrow, Maria Ressa. She's standing up for press freedoms around the world. We have examples from the past that can lead us forward, and we have other examples.

When I taught here my Great Powers course and my Diplomacy course, I'd always end each semester, each class at the very end with a dramatic reading of a speech by Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne in 1910. It's known as “The man in the arena” speech. Why don't we modernize Roosevelt, the person in the arena, the woman, as well as the man in the arena? Here's what he said. He said, "The credit belongs to those who have the courage to step into the arena." He meant what we would call public service at Harvard Kennedy School, and he praised those who fight for change even if they're bloodied, even if they fail in the process.

And he ends with a key message that I think, I hope, might have some resonance with your class as you step out to fight the battles in the arena of 2024. He said, "Even if she fails, at least she fails while daring greatly so that her place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." Isn't that an amazing quote? What was he saying? You're never going to change the world from your living room armchair. You're never going to change the world unless you take some risks, unless you go out into the world to do things that are hard and difficult and daunting, but change the world by taking those risks.

There's a final issue that we should discuss, and that's the challenges that you've been facing as individuals and facing collectively here at Harvard this year. It's the elephant in the room at every graduation in America this spring. It's the crisis of the war in Israel and Gaza that has engulfed so many university campuses. You know this far better than me. You've been here on campus. I've been 7,000 miles away in China. I don't come here to be judge and jury. All I can offer today is a sense of my own experience as a diplomat in dealing with difficult emotional discussions about polarization, about injustice, about the tragedy that every life lost is a loss for humanity, about looking at both sides to a conflict. My profession of diplomacy is all about disagreement and debate, and discussion and speech. If you think about the United Nations, nearly every issue that comes to the rostrum is a difficult issue where people are divided, where nations are divided. And Professor O'Sullivan and I have been talking about this and I think we agree, we agreed the other day that this process of learning how to disagree, learning how to cope, learning how to reach out, that's a life skill.

It's not something that you're just going to have to process and practice now. It'll be part of your life forevermore. So what are the lessons we might learn from the experience of this spring about how we move forward as a unified public? You know the adage from the Bible, "Be slow to judge, be quick to forgive.” Speak your mind, stand your ground, but listen as well as speak. Ask yourself a question that I certainly don't ask. I think a lot of us don't. "How might I be wrong?" Are my assumptions correct? Are my facts correct? It's important for people like me to ask those questions in my line of work. Find the humanity in the person that you're arguing with, debating with, maybe shouting at. There's a human being there and you are too. Find more spaces at Harvard and around the country for diverse voices, progressive, middle of the road, conservative. We're one country, not two, not three. Listen to everybody and be civil and be peaceful in debate and discussion.

One other way to look at this, and I know this is hard, and I know it's been difficult this year, that we are not the first generations of Americans and people around the world to contend with disagreement and to contend with really difficult issues. In the wake of the Cuban Missile crisis, 1962, ’63, when much of the world was at risk of complete physical destruction if a nuclear war had been fought in October 1962, President Kennedy spent eight months thinking about what had nearly happened, and he went to the American University in June 1963, and here's what he said about what happens when you demonize someone and what he was saying to the American people, we've demonized the Soviet people, we've turned them into the enemy. Here's what he said, "For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children's future and we are all mortal." Well, those sentences are as relevant today as they were in 1963, they're insightful. And by the way, if you look at the granite posts all around John F. Kennedy Park, take a moment when you leave, you'll find that quote put there by Professor Allison when he was dean on one of our hallmarks here at Harvard Kennedy School. So as you graduate tomorrow, consider how you, in small and big ways, can be a force for civil discussion, civil debate in a democracy. Can you be a force for unity in a world that sometimes, it appears, just wants to divide and even disintegrate? Be that voice for compassion, learning, understanding and unity.

And because Libby wants us to focus on hope and she's right, the final thing I want to say to you today is this. I'm Irish-American, as is Professor O'Sullivan, as our Libby and Elizabeth Burns, our daughter. One of our greatest modern poets in Ireland is Seamus Heaney. He taught here. He was a professor at Harvard. He wrote a poem called “The Cure of Troy,” in 1991. He's my favorite poet. More importantly, he's Joe Biden's favorite poet. Here's what he said about the future and about hope.

"History says, Don't hope On this side of the grave.  But then once in a lifetime, The longed-for tidal wave Of justice can rise up, And hope in history rhyme."

Harvard Kennedy School Class of 2024 please give us hope. Thank you, and congratulations to all of you.

Photos by Kayana Szymczak

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