Two central themes dominated a recent symposium held by the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS). The Poverty of Politics Research and Pro-Poor Policymaking symposium was held in November at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa.

The first theme was that of "framing" key messages. This is a vital issue from DRUSSA`s perspective, since one of our aims is, in fact, to frame the Research Uptake discourse for our various audiences and to contribute to mainstreaming this discourse more widely. DRUSSA works with Sub-Saharan universities to develop capacity, both at institutional and individual level, to carry out Research Uptake activities.

The importance of framing for practitioners in the field is to communicate the message in language that resonates with the readers` values and outlook, whether it is aimed at those influential in the policymaking arena or at community level. 

In a presentation on how she had used the framing technique in the United States, policy advocate and communicator Margy Waller used a number of examples on how terms and images used to introduce a topic can have a powerful effect on how people see and understand it. If framed effectively, key messages could even change deep-seated beliefs (and ultimately behaviour). Waller, previously a senior advisor in Bill Clinton`s administration, calls a frame a "central organising idea".



She said many communications efforts on social issues failed because a frame is not established to help people understand an old issue in a new way. Very often, communicators rely on heightening the emotional power of a message. An emotional appeal will not work if the basic framing is flawed. Over and above tapping into people`s emotions, the message should provide a new conceptual understanding of an issue, so that they can appreciate the big picture and the dynamics at work in a way they didn`t before.



The second big theme at the symposium was the discourse around evidence-based policymaking (EBP) that ensued from the presentation given by PLAAS Director Prof Andries du Toit on his much-discussed paper, "The politics of poverty research and pro-poor policy making: Learning from the practice of policy dialogue".



Over the past several years, pressure on the development community has increased to demonstrate the impacts of funded initiatives, as have international funders` expectations for policies to be rooted in scientific evidence. In the light of this current reality, Du Toit`s paper questions some of the assumptions underlying evidence-based policymaking, saying the extent to which policymaking can be based on evidence that is clear and certain is often overstated and that other factors such as politics, ideology and sociopolitical realities have to be taken into account in the process. Du Toit argues that while it is laudable to try to ensure that pro-poor policies and initiatives are based on good scientific evidence, the approach belies underlying complexities.

The paper argues that it is not so much the lack of evidence that is the problem, but rather the lack of adequate analysis. "Ensuring more appropriate policies, attuned to the economic and social realities requires not only that policymakers `get the evidence` but that they make sense of it." It cautions against the need for "user uptake" causing researchers to abandon their integrity and independence, so that "evidence-based policymaking" starts turning into "policy-based evidence making".

Du Toit said EBP was quite disempowering and that what was needed was more effective ways to engage with evidence and the political process.

So, is there life after EBP? he asked, suggesting that maybe the time has come to forsake EBP`s "naive and technocratic optimism" and the notion that all that was needed was good evidence. He suggested that the privileging of natural science as the normative model of scientific investigation should be abandoned and that we look beyond good evidence and focus on good analysis. Researchers should become self-reflective about the role of values, politics and ideology, and make the politics in policy an explicit focus in framing research questions and solutions.

Linda Cilliers is the Online Media Specialist for DRUSSA