Bridging the gap between research and parliament: an examination of parliamentary mechanisms for engaging with academic research

Parliaments are central to the parliamentary system of government, where the executive branch (the Government) is constitutionally answerable to the parliament. Their role includes scrutinising and deliberating Government decision making and policy and passing legislation. To fulfil these roles, parliamentarians need access to research and other forms of evidence such as testimonials from experts and interested parties and lived experience of constituents. This is where parliamentary research services (PRS) come in. Commonly situated in a permanent parliamentary administration characterised by impartiality and independence, these services play a crucial role in enabling parliaments to access and harness research.

Despite their key role in enabling the use of research evidence, PRS have been overlooked in debates over evidence-based policy making or evidence informed policy and practice (EIPP). The literature that we do have on the relationship between parliaments and research evidence can be broadly divided into two types. The first focuses on exploring and evaluating how research evidence is represented and used within parliamentary processes such as select committees or parliamentary debates. The second focuses specifically on the work of PRS with most of this literature focusing on individual services such as the now disbanded US Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, the US Congressional Research Service, and the UK’s Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. This literature is heavily skewed towards the global north meaning that relatively little is known about the nature, role, and common challenges of PRS.

Our project sought to address these gaps by identifying, mapping and analysing parliamentary research services across the world.