Networked Policy Making Avenues: Assessing the Role of Academics in Digital Policy

There are a growing number of examples that point toward a change in the way public policy is made in the digital age. This new context, which we refer to as networked policymaking, involves a greater variety of actors and voices, often collaborating in formal and informal networks, taking part in a public consideration and debate of policy questions via digital media. In this document, we seek to (1) describe the different avenues and modalities in which academics can have an impact on policy, and (2) offer a framework to help researchers and other constituents assess the role of academics in policymaking. We hope that this may serve to help researchers build research agendas and policy roadmaps for engagement in specific locales and around salient policy issues. Although the focus of this document is on academics and policymaking, the questions of priorities, focus, and emphasis should be informed by the perspectives and insights of all the various stakeholders that interact, support, and draw upon academic work.

This briefing is part of the Berkman Klein Center's paper series "Translating Research for Action: Ideas and Examples for Informing Digital Policy."