Close collaboration with policymakers

Navigating Ethical Complexity and Contracting in Multi-Stakeholder Projects

The challenges: Balancing the desire to collaborate with / provide analytical support to a government agency on a matter of crucial national and human security importance, with the need to maintain institutional and analytical autonomy in our own academic-practitioner interactions. – Managing expectations by practitioners / policymakers about what type of analysis could be reasonably and ethically produced under time and resource constraints …

Ethical Concerns on a Research Project

The challenges: The background and policy setting: Parkinson earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago in 2013. She researches organizational behavior and social change during and after war, with a regional focus on the Middle East and North Africa. Of note for this reflection is her research on humanitarian organizations and …

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Requests for Revisions That Go Against One’s Findings

The Challenge: Responding to requests for substantive revisions to consultancy work that go against one’s findings, analysis, or professional opinion The Background and Policy Setting: King is a political scientist committed to conducting policy-relevant research related to war, peace, development, and education. Over the past 15 years, alongside her university-based work, she has partnered with …

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Political Economy Analysis with an International Organization

I have been invited by an international organization to engage in a political economy / institutional analysis. I have limited specific expertise on the country in question — but considerable experience with such work in other countries in the region that could be helpful for comparative purposes. I think I could contribute important analytical perspective …

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Engaging with identity politics during times of heightened polarization

The challenges: The background and policy setting: Brown is an expert on race, gender, and identity politics, and is one of the founders of Women Also Know Stuff.1 After George Floyd’s murder in 2020 she was approached to help people understand how talk about the Black Lives Matter movement and identity politics more broadly in schools and communities. This …

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Navigating Positionality on Racial Profiling by Police

This reflection was completed by a professor who studies the economics of stratification, considering such topics as equitable growth, gender, and macroeconomic tools. Their primary research focus has been on racial profiling by the police. The scholar has requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of this engagement.

Engaging on the Creation of Cybersecurity Norms

The challenge: How to advise on complex phenomena (creating cybersecurity norms) when the narrative surrounding them is oversimplified. The background and policy setting: Martha Finnemore is a noted expert on norms in international relations. Around 2010 she was enlisted to help develop norms around cybersecurity. Recognizing the difficulty of generating “harder” law or treaties in …

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Ethics of Engagement