The first phase of research focused on documentary data collection, mainly in the form of bibliometric and qualitative reviews of the whole body of literature on political legitimacy, multi-level governance and public sector reform. The second phase of research focused on primary data collection, in the form of in-depth interviews, surveys and reviews of political debates, documents and dialogue. The third and final phase of research consolidated this data into findings and applied these findings in both practical and academic contexts.
The research produced outputs in four main areas: 1) academic conference presentations and workshops; 2) academic publications; 3) work with policy-makers, academic experts and other policy actors and dissemination through political fora; and 4) developing the research into follow-on projects and research bids. A total of 15 presentations were given at seven workshops and six conferences, targeting both academics and practitioners. In addition, a final wrap-up conference for the grant took place on 22 September, 2017, with the title of Scientific Research in a Post-Brexit Britain: Challenges and Opportunities for Expertise in Policymaking. This event hosted 60 participants and feature speakers from different governmental levels, policymakers and academics to look at how academic expertise can legitimate political decision-making. In terms of academic publication, one paper has so far been published, two in press or accepted, one is under review, and a further three publications are nearing completion. Finally, the project has been used to link with policymakers, government and other policy actors for both consultation and dissemination. The legitimacy.eu portal was created to disseminate information on the project and as a forum for working papers, blog posts and other forms of communication, and IMPACKT (the Initiative for Managing Policymaker-Academic Cooperation and Knowledge Transfer -
http://www.impackt.org.uk(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre)) has been created in partnership with colleagues in the Colleges of Medicine and Engineering (Dr. James Cronin and Dr. Enrico Andreoli) to increase academic engagement in policy work and improve the legitimacy of expert evidence in policymaking. This linkage with policymakers and other policy actors has resulted in four written contributions to government consultations at EU, UK and Welsh levels. Finally, the project has been used as a springboard for developing future research projects and developing a clear research agenda over the next five years. Related research has attracted internal university funding and support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Impact Acceleration Account and future projects are being developed with computer science and psychology. In addition, an ESRC-funded PhD position has been created that relates to the broader project on legitimacy and expert engagement. Finally, the project has opened up a much larger body of work on understanding the role of different stakeholders (citizens, politicians, academic experts, media and others) in creating and developing conceptions of political legitimacy. This broader research project was developed into a European Research Council Starting Grant bid that was submitted in October 2017.
