Synopsis:

It is to examine the question of impacts in particular that the project on which this website is based has been conducted – as part of a programme of ‘Impacts Grants’ funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, launched in order to understand better the ways in which UK social scientists are extending the findings of their research to the policy sphere and to society at large. Drawing on our experience of ‘bridging the gap’ between research and the policy domain in our work (including ESRC-funded activities) on the linkage between policymaking and stakeholder influences in foreign, defence and security policies, we will reflect both on the lessons to be drawn from our own research and dissemination practice, and on broader discussions, held with a wide range of stakeholders during the course of our Impact Grant, that provide important food for thought for the academic community in its efforts to render research policy relevant.

Central Research Question

• Who/what can be considered to be the ‘stakeholders’ in the realms of security, defence and foreign policies?

• To what extent have developments of recent years changed the nature and the dynamics of the stakeholding community, and the influences that stakeholders bring to bear on the policy process?

• What contributions are social scientists making to understanding the nature of change in the stakeholding arena? What kind of challenges face researchers both in studying this subject, and in relating the impacts of their research to the policy sphere and to the public at large?

Content of the Site:

• Contextualization – summaries of the respective work of Webber and Zilberman in this sphere, and an outline of the activities of the Impact Grant 'Stakeholders in Security'

• Definitions – what do we mean by ‘stakeholders’?

• Conceptual and methodological responses - The imperative for new analytical approaches – the changing nature of policymaking in foreign, defence and security policy

• Reflections on case studies

• Challenges for the policy sphere and the academic sphere

• Next steps: The need for public education and the expansion of stakeholder engagement in the policy process