As most of our members and friends are aware, the Forum is a member of the Governmental Research Association (GRA), a national organization comprised of 38 entities from across the country that conduct research on matters pertaining to state and local governments. Our GRA membership is very valuable to the Forum. We use it to compare research quality and topics, share policy data and findings, and get tips on organizational matters ranging from human resources to fundraising to communications.
A couple of weeks ago, one of the giants of GRA - Ran Coble, Executive Director of the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research - announced his retirement. Ran served 33 years with the Center and in my mind, he's the North Carolina version of the Forum's former leader, Norman Gill.
I could go on for the remainder of this piece about Ran's wisdom and other attributes, but that's not what prompts me to write this message. Instead, it's my recollection of a panel discussion he led last summer at the annual GRA conference in Milwaukee.
The title of the panel was "Tools in the Toolbox: Using Research to Change Policy." Its focus was the challenge faced by nonpartisan policy research organizations in working to promote better public policy without crossing the line into advocacy or partisanship. A link to an audio recording of the session can be found here (near the end of the page).
Having faced that challenge hundreds of times in his career, Ran formulated a "Continuum of Ways the Center Affects Public Policy," which guides his organization's approach. The document cites the inevitability of being asked "What do you recommend?" and outlines the continuum of decision points his organization uses to determine how to answer that question for each research project. It also specifies the tools that will be used by the Center to disseminate its research findings depending on how close to policy advocacy it wishes to tread.
While the Forum does not maintain formal guidelines, our informal approach is to avoid making policy recommendations unless our research is so conclusive as to only point in one policy direction. Otherwise, we often offer a series of policy options, or we present observations that fall short of recommending, but that seek to package what we have learned in a way that will help frame the decision-making process.
When the Forum's Board of Trustees undertakes a new round of strategic planning this year, two of the many topics we will consider are whether we should be less bashful about making policy recommendations, and whether we should formalize guidelines for using our toolbox of research and dissemination strategies to promote sound government decision-making. Ran Coble's continuum will be invaluable to our consideration of those issues.
If you have any thoughts on this matter, please don't hesitate to send an e-mail or give me a call.