Log in
Approached by the Ministry of Defence's (MoD) Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC) to participate in the writing of two new UK Joint Intelligence Doctrines in 2010-11, research carried out by Davies and Gustafson has contributed to substantial changes in the conception and application of intelligence practices in peace and war.
Joint Intelligence Doctrines have significant impact on common concepts, professional standards and working practices in operational and tactical intelligence in the UK's armed services, including 227,160 uniformed personnel, as well as MoD civilian intelligence staff. They are the basis of military practice and are literally defined as "that which is taught." The reach of the impact extends also to professional practice in intelligence of other states (USA, Afghanistan and NATO member states) through intelligence collaboration and mentoring and also the European Union's External Action Service via training.
Research at the University of Edinburgh (UoE) by Crang and Addison since 1998 led to the co-edited volume Listening to Britain: Home Intelligence Reports on Britain's Finest Hour, May-September 1940, published in 2010 to much public and academic acclaim. This case study demonstrates three impacts: i) significant transformation of popular understanding in the UK of the Home Front experience in the Second World War through extensive book sales and media coverage; ii) influence on the work of a prominent film maker, who created a widely-praised documentary about the Blitz (drawing on the book's subject matter), broadcast across Europe, Africa and the Middle East; and iii) effect on contemporary policy debates regarding energy and resources.
The 2000 Freedom of Information Act was the subject of post-legislative scrutiny by the Ministry of Justice and the Commons Justice Committee in 2011 and 2012. Both the Ministry and the Justice Committee drew heavily on work by Professor Robert Hazell and colleagues in the Constitution Unit at UCL. The Unit developed the conceptual approach to evaluate the impact of FOI, and provided much of the evidence base. The evidence contributed to the decision that, despite pressure from senior political and Whitehall figures, the Act would not be significantly amended.
Professor Patrick Dunleavy, as Director of the LSE Public Policy Group (PPG), has led a research programme on digital era governance. The results of this programme, through published research, evidence to Parliament and direct consulting to government agencies (including the National Audit Office), have had a significant impact on the UK government's approach to the delivery of government services online. Specifically, the research has allowed the government to develop policies that have facilitated speedier and more effective digital changes, and increased the breadth and quality of public service delivery online.
One strand of Griffiths' academic work has looked at public service reform. This research has influenced a variety of think tank publications examining reform strategies in health, education and social care. In particular, it has shaped debates on citizenship, choice in public services, the `coproduction' of services between citizen and state, and greater professional autonomy. Both the New Labour Government and the Coalition have moved policy in this direction. Griffiths' contributions have been significant enough to be discussed by Cabinet Ministers and senior opposition politicians, special advisers, trade union groups and in local government. His latest edited book in this area is currently the subject of an ongoing series of debates between academics and policymakers, including government ministers, hosted by the Royal Society and Arts and sponsored by the ESRC.
This research has influenced professional standards, guidelines and training in intelligence in the wake of the intelligence failure that contributed to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Specifically, the research has been used to inform new professional standards and guidelines for UK intelligence analysts and has informed guidance and thinking related to professional training at the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Beyond this, it has also informed public and policy debate on broader security issues, including those arising from the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) and development of a UK National Security Strategy.
Research conducted in 2006-13 on the role of third sector organisations (TSOs) in delivering public services in Scotland has shaped public policy, improved the management/impact of TSOs in delivering public services, and influenced public opinion on the role of TSOs. This has been achieved through research for the Scottish Government and the ESRC, input into the Christie Commission on public services reform, and by affecting the management of TSOs in Scotland through training events and through Osborne's role as Vice-Chair of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO). It has also had an international impact, including in Denmark and Australia.
Through engagement with government, parliamentary committees, individual parliamentarians, and the media, this research has generated impact which is both significant and far reaching. It has influenced substantive reform in parliamentary oversight of the intelligence and security agencies and contributed to proposals for House of Lords reform. It has also informed debates about various aspects of parliamentary reform by challenging prevailing assumptions, including through engagement with the media and by influencing the work of other groups with an interest in parliamentary reform, such as the Electoral Reform Society and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Because corruption involves illegal activities of public officials, data about the scale and objects of bribery is not readily available. Without such evidence, policymakers are handicapped in identifying points for effective intervention. Rose's survey research on post-Communist countries developed innovative measures to monitor the payment of bribes by citizens for public services. Transparency International (TI) is the world's leading non-governmental organisation campaigning against corruption, and it has incorporated the survey methodology in its key research tool, the Global Corruption Barometer (GCB). From 2008 to 2013 Transparency International has conducted three major rounds of Global Corruption Barometer surveys that interviewed upwards of 450,000 people in more than 110 countries on every continent. Results have been disseminated worldwide through the 90 national chapters of Transparency International. Rose's expertise in sampling has also been used to improve value-for-money expenditure on GCB surveys in the many developing countries it covers.
Woodhouse's research has conceptual and instrumental impact in the UK and internationally. Instrumentally, her research has provided the basis for recommendations on accountability made by political groups, such as parliamentary committees. These relate to the mechanisms by which accountability is secured and to the constitutional relationships between Parliament and the executive, ministers and their civil servants, and MPs and their constituents. Conceptually, this impact concerns the debate by political actors on political accountability, whether of individual Members of Parliament for the standards to which they adhere or individual Ministers for their responsibilities within and outside their departments.