Presentaci

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The Influence of Research on Public
Policy   LATN The Latin American Trade Network
Case study   Dr Luis Macadar Montevideo December
2002
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I. CONTEXT   Notorious lack of response of the
region facing the new challenges put forward in
the international scenario.   Evidences         
A international context where negotiations were
becoming increasingly important, overlapped and
with many simultaneous levels of
discussion.          Lack of information and of
an orderly set of ideas on the main issues of the
multilateral agenda          Absence of any
regional mechanism that may ease the analysis and
discussion of those policies to inform the
national position with regard to international
trade negotiations          Broad prevalence
of national views and notorious lack of expertise
to facilitate to adopt negotiating positions with
regional objectives          Lack of updated
bibliography on such subjects based on the
reality of Latin American countries.         
Little knowledge on the margins of negotiation
available, on the available options, its
advantages and disadvantages in order to set the
grounds for the decision making process.
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II. INPUTS   LATN started its activities on March
1998. It gathers researchers and policy
officials from several Latin American countries
and international institutions.   Activities
       Studies applying the available basic
knowledge to the international trade
negotiations          Consultancies and advise
to various offices of the public and private
sector          Organization, Coordination and
Dissemination of Information, taking advantage of
the national accumulation of various institutions
at the regional level, making it
possible   q      To give specialized
information on the main issues of the
multilateral agenda with a perspective on the
interests of the region   q      To support
government negotiators in their performance,
strengthening the top priority topics, the
sequence of issues and meetings, etc.   q     
Communication and dissemination (inside the
Network and to the public in general) through
publications and the Website.          Training
courses (PMs, negotiators, private sector,
NGOs, civil society)          Meetings with
PMs and other stakeholders          National
and international conferences
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III. PROCESS   Dissemination strategy         
Addressed to persons who may be in public offices
of certain relevance but whose origins were
research, studies, and consultancy. They were
neither politicians, nor high-ranking posts of
political responsibility in the
government          Mainly constitute by actors
and leading roles that attend meetings, who are
in committees, who are involved in the
negotiations. At that intermediate hierarchical
level of those who lead negotiation processes and
sit at the table          Different degree of
permeability to the LATN influence depending on
their origin political life or researching
institutes or consultancy-research   In general,
the target groups were defined as the employees
of the public sector and representatives of the
private sector who operate in the negotiating
committees.     The operations were made based
on target groups chosen through         
Preparation of policy papers        Informal
meetings (at the demand of competent authorities)
       Preparation of ad hoc documents       
Trainings courses        Meetings with PM and
other stakeholders        Email and Websites,
receiving and providing information and
specialized studies on various subjects       
Personal relationships between researchers and
PM-Negotiators        Mass media (newspapers
and TV)
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IV. OUTCOMES     Direct influences
              access to positions with
political responsibility               personal
relationships               hiring of specific
consultants   Indirect influences         
Outputs have succeeded in presenting regional or
national perspectives on current trade issues.
       At the national level, various Latin
American governments for assistance have
approached the network on trade
negotiations          A number of organizations
in the region have also contacted LATN for
assistance on trade negotiations.         
Influence on the public authorities through the
education function          Influence through
coordination and dissemination of knowledge and
information, making it possible for both the
public sector and the private sector to get in
contact with each other          The specific
approach of LATN is another factor, which works
linked to the personal relationship. LATN has an
approach to the trade policy issues, which help
to think about the concrete challenges those who
govern the countries face.          The
indirect influence through the attendance to
group meetings and seminars, is based in the
transference of knowledge through interpersonal
relationships.          The participants were
discovering that even being part of a same
negotiating block, they held antagonist
positions. The results of the meeting are
synthesized in the fact that the negotiators
discovered that it was possible to design and
implement a common trade negotiation strategy.
         The participants to training courses
acknowledged they had discovered new areas within
the issues dealt with, which they did not suppose
could be part the negotiations.  
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  TYPES OF POLICY INFLUENCE   The answers of the
interviewees were focused mainly in the two first
groups included in the questionnaire
  q          Expanding policy capacities q       
   Broadening policy horizons   Within those some
specific types were indicated as
prevalent.   Improving the knowledge/data of
certain actors                    Civil servants
do not see the negotiation topics from an
academic point of view. In this sense, the
Network contributed to increase its analytic
capacity broadening its scope.                 
They started to be preoccupied for the
implications of the international legal
framework.                  On the other hand,
the information widened the horizon to a more
global approach. Since then these topics where
included to the daily work of those civil
servants.                  The volume and the
importance acquired by international procedures
of the country have created a climate that may be
attributed to LATN.                  The
Briefings enables to have a more accurate idea
about which are the main issues the operation of
international economy has to deal with.
                 LATN may tackle politically
complex issues without any damage. There is not
commitment with anyone pros and cons may be
analyzed.   In sum, the Network comparative
advantages were highlighted compared to other
similar activities. It is accepted that there is
a particular role for the politically independent
research.
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Introducing new concepts to frame debates,
putting ideas on the agenda, or stimulating
public debate                    LATN
researchers do not belong to the orthodox
mainstream. This explains that because they do
not agree with the dominant ideas it is not
possible to verify its presence in the economic
decisions taken in the region.                 
The big challenge is then to make them put those
ideas on how to broaden the options of public
policy the average official has in his/her daily
work, up for discussion, since it is considered
that it is very difficult to get to the highest
positions of political responsibility.
                 Furthermore, the influence
does not work through the direct transference
deriving from the reading of a document. It
rather acts because the speech changes during the
negotiation. Some things that did not receive any
attention start to be perceived while it is
acknowledged that on the issues where the Network
applies effort, the agenda is broaden.   More
precisely it may be conceived that the influence
is split in two dimensions   q                To
add to the menu of options, to open a range of
different alternatives q                Adding
new topics hidden under other issues.
                   The concrete form they
adopted consists on broadening the menu of
options to the PM-negotiator and on widening the
horizon including new topics and their
corresponding implications.                 
The research contributes to place the receiver of
the influence in a position from which he/she may
appreciate better the problem, order the
proposal, tell which are the feasible options,
those that are not feasible, the most convenient,
the less favorable. At the same time that the
performance capacity of negotiators is broaden, a
gradual change of the conceptual thought and
subsequently of the policies take place.
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Providing opportunities for networking/learning
within the jurisdiction or with colleagues
elsewhere                    The Network enables
an interaction facilitating the awareness of
other realities of LA and the connection with
other colleagues of the region.
                 To work in the Network
generates a completely different environment of
discussion of the problems.   On the one hand it
assembles different expertise researchers, PMs,
private sector. In other terms, different views
and approaches to the problem. On the other hand,
it is an environment that allows a margin of
freedom, which does not allow the discussion
where other elements take part. When a negotiator
submits, in general he/she previously clarifies
if he/she will express his/her personal position
or the Chancellerys or the Ministry of
Economys. This facilitates the participation in
the discussion of the Network, what it is
impossible to do with his/her peers or in a
traditional negotiation.   Developing new talent
for research and analysis                   
Teaching activity was performed through training
courses to negotiators, PMs and private
sector.                  A new course on Economy
of Integration inspired in the LATN project and
adding issues in the Network was incorporated to
the University study plans.                 
PMs of the different Ministries and of the
private sector are invited to give lectures and
conferences in those courses.                 
Graduation thesis on issues similar to those
treated in the Network have been promoted.
                 New officials, public
administration management teams were educated.
                 New young researcher-academics
were formed, being the members of the LATN
Coordination Unit clearly outstanding.   Stimulati
ng quiet dialogue among decision makers and among
or with researchers                    It has
been attempted through meetings and seminars
with the participation of PMs, private sector and
researchers. The result has been considered
variable, visible and successful in same cases,
less visible and successful in others.  
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FACTORS IN POLICY INFLUENCE   a.     Active
Subject   An individual researcher-academic or a
researching institute or a research project.
Characteristics    Personal history and as
researcher, background in the academic and
researching field.    Reputation, prestige and
recognition among his/her peers as well as from
other distinguished actors.    Intellectual and
academic production relating to the topics they
are specialized in.   These attributes of the
active subject create an image linked to his/her
scientific production that becomes the indirect
mechanism needed to influence the world of ideas.
  The influence at a personal level is decisive
but not independent from the papers and the rest
of the media. To have the personal contacts to
influenciate becomes a necessary condition but
not a sufficient one. The problem is multivariate
and combines several attributes of the active
subject of the influence.
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    b. The Influenced Actor   A high ranked
political position (Minister, Secretary,
Undersecretary), a PM, a negotiator and in
general all the participant actors of the
policymaking process.   From all the
characteristics its receptivity, its degree of
porosity, in other words the results the
influence or the degree of influence that could
be exerted may reach.   The receptivity to the
influence will depend basically on four groups of
factors   q                Relation with the
Active Subject It is about the degree of
affinity at a personal, institutional,
ideological and academic-technical level the
subject to be influenced has with the
researcher-academic.   q               
Institutional Factors                  degree
of democratization                  government
autonomy margin on vested interests
                 domestic strategic
relationship between the government and other
groups of the civil society
(academic-researchers, private sector, public
opinion, media)                 
institutional relations between the academic
circle and the PM-negotiators                 
rotation of technical staffs in the public sector

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q                Political Context   Predominant
features of the political system structure and
operation. Local and regional instability, lack
of consensus, importance given to international
negotiations in the political agenda of each
country.   q                Cultural
Patterns   Tradition in the country of founding
decision-making on studies and knowledge produced
by the scientific and academic circles.
  Environment suitable to submit ideas, showing
a favorable disposition for the reception of new
or different views.   c.    Means Used for the
Exchange   Direct Means          Access to a
position with high political responsibility
       Exercise of personal relations       
Hired consulting firms        Preparation and
usage of ad hoc documents
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Indirect Means          Briefings       
Working papers        Books        Training
courses        Forums with PM, private
sector        Academic seminars       
Lectures and conferences        Journalistic
articles        Radio, TV broadcastings
       Informal meetings   d.   Correlation of
Forces           Predominance of the influent
actor.         Equivalence of forces.        
Predominance of the sectors to be influenced.