ABSTRACT
One of the recent mantras in social policy research pays homage to the links between researchers and policymakers. A variant on the mantra places advocacy as an intermediary link in the chain, responsible for forcing the pace of policy change by using the results of research as leverage on those who take decisions. The vocabulary of policy research has shifted accordingly and embraces terms such as “networked global knowledge systems,” “ex ante linkages with policy makers,” “collaborative agenda setting,” “continuous feedback,” and so on. The mantra and the vocabulary notwithstanding, there is much to suggest that the reality is quite different and the policy researchers and policymakers remain more “worlds apart” than “worlds together.”
