Log in
Philippe Marlière's research on social democracy in Europe, and particularly in France, extended the range and quality of information regarding the French presidential election (2012), and thus made an important contribution to public understanding in both the UK and France. This was achieved through a series of high profile press publications in Le Monde, Mediapart, the Guardian, OpenDemocracy and other outlets, which were both widely read and led to substantial debate online and on social media. This, along with an invitation to brief the BBC, led to far more informed coverage of the election and the role of left and far-right parties in its final result.
Research by Simon Hix on the democratic reform of the European Union has helped to transform the way politicians, policymakers, journalists and interest groups understand how EU politics works, and as a result has changed the way the EU institutions work. Hix's research has achieved the following key impacts: 1) www.VoteWatch.eu is the leading website for tracking the voting behaviour of MEPs and governments in the EU Council; 2) recorded ("roll-call votes") are now taken in the European Parliament (EP) on all final votes on EU legislative proposals; 3) the Duff Report on the reform of the EP electoral system proposed to introduce preferential-voting in all EU member states; and 4) there is growing support amongst think tanks, NGOs and political parties for a competitive election of the Commission President, which Hix has advocated for several years. In November 2012, on the 40th anniversary of British membership of the EU, the media group EurActiv named Simon Hix amongst "the 40 most influential Britons on EU policy". He was the only academic on the list (see http://www.euractiv.com/UK40).
The principal forms of impact flowing from this body of research lie in two interconnected areas:
a) Improving public understanding of right-wing populism, by influencing how journalists around the world and their international audiences, including policy makers, have interpreted its success in Europe and its characteristics (see source 3 below);
b) Informing political debate in Italy and Finland concerning populist parties and the strategies the Left should adopt in response to the actions of populists in government (sources 1 and 2). By contributing to such debates, the research has influenced the way members of civil society (such as trade unionists and NGO activists, among others) see right-wing populism in the aforementioned countries. In the case of Italy, it has also helped beneficiaries make sense of the actions of populists in government.
Professor Martin Dangerfield's research has focused on subregional cooperation in post-Cold War Europe with special emphasis on interactions with broader European integration processes. Its significance was acknowledged by policy-making communities at national, subregional and EU level. Dangerfield was appointed to advisory roles in events that both debated and informed public policy and enhanced public awareness. These concerned multilateral foreign policy cooperation of new EU members, namely the Visegrad Group (VG), and conception, design and implementation of a major EU initiative — the `Macro-Regional Strategy'. Dangerfield's work has also been cited widely in relevant non-academic publications produced for policy analysis and to deliver recommendations.
The Exhibiting Europe project has generated change in the museum world with a pan-European reach. It has had significant impact on museum organizations, by helping them to improve their networking and lobbying activities; museum professionals, by suggesting ways to `transnationalize' their activities and historical narratives; and policy-makers in the cultural and museum field, by contributing to a high level policy dialogue with the European Parliament, the European Commission and EU member-states about ways to `narrate' Europe and European integration.
This case-study is based upon research by Prof Michael Dougan and Dr Michael Gordon (both members of the Liverpool European Law Unit) undertaken between 2008 and 2013. That work critically assesses a series of interlinked EU constitutional reforms, and their impact upon the EU's relationship to its Member States, with particular reference to the UK experience: first, the interpretation and implementation of the Lisbon Treaty 2007; secondly, the design and implications of the European Union Act 2011; thirdly, Britain's legal and political reception of the 2012 "Fiscal Compact" Treaty. The research's principal impacts have occurred within the period 1 January 2008 to 31 July 2013. They consist in providing a wide range of high-level institutional actors (including the European Court of Justice, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the House of Commons) with an objective and thorough critical evaluation of those major constitutional developments, so as directly to inform and assist their policy deliberations (including specific recommendations based directly on the research) on issues of fundamental importance to the future interests of the EU and the UK.
This case study focuses on the impact of research undertaken within the European Research Centre (ERC) and the Centre for the Study of International Governance at Loughborough University between 1993 and 2009, primarily by Professor Linda Hantrais (1993-2008 and now Emeritus). The impact of the research has been created through high quality cross-national socio-demographic analysis which has underpinned policy formation and delivery at the European and national levels, with particular reference to social policy, citizenship and family policy. It has had a substantial further impact by generating advances in international comparative research methods and training.
Research by Dr Andrew Wilson underpinned the development of policy planning and advocacy which shaped European Union (EU) policy towards Russia and the six countries of the Eastern Partnership. The recommendation to send high level policy advisors to Moldova, based on Wilson's research, was adopted by the EU's Eastern Partnership in 2009. Wilson's research and policy recommendations also underpinned the EU's response to a 2010 crackdown in Belarus and to worsening relations with Ukraine in 2011-12. Finally, Wilson's research on democracy in post-Soviet countries led the election monitors of the OSCE to reshape their monitoring strategy in Ukraine.
Research on participation in governance and related policy instruments, with a particular focus on interest organisations and groups, with strategic orientation of research publications towards impact, and evidence of use at the highest level in public policy reviews and public discourse/debate, as well as deliberations of advocacy groups.