1. Introduction
Science and policy have an important and interconnected relationship. Policymakers (elected officials, political advisors, federal agencies, lobbyists, etc.) can impact the direction and the funding of scientific research, thereby influencing which research topics are prioritized and supported. Laws and regulations, especially with regards to topics like the environment or healthcare, are informed by and sometimes rely directly on scientific work. For example, satellite images and data are used to monitor natural resources like air, water, and forests, and then this information contributes to policies about pollution and resource management.
Policymakers are also in positions to be able to apply scientific developments to help solve societal problems, especially problems that science policy advocates bring to their attention. For example, in 2000, the U.S. government gave civilians access to high-accuracy GPS signals in order to improve navigation and reduce accidents. As you try to garner support for your research, influence laws and regulations, or encourage stakeholders to utilize your work, you may want to seek help from a policymaker. This CommKit will guide you through the first steps of communicating with a policymaker: choosing who to reach out to, doing background research, developing a written message or preparing for a meeting, and following up afterwards.
Anyone can use this CommKit! Whether you want to share your own research with a policymaker or you just want to get involved with an issue you care about, this guide can help you determine what to do next.
2. Criteria for Success
Upon completion of this CommKit, you should be able to:
- Identify at least one policymaker who is compatible with your goals and interests.
- Understand how your work, your goals, and the policymaker that you have selected fit into the political process.
- Create a written or spoken presentation that:
- Clearly communicates technical information in a way that is accessible to a non-technical audience.
- Connects your work with the goals and interests of the intended audience.
- Develop a plan of action for achieving your science policy goals.
3. Analyze Your Audience
3.1. Overview:
Your strategy for communicating will change depending on your audience. Different policymakers have different goals, different skill sets, and different ways of engaging with the political process. Before you begin crafting your message, it is important to decide who your audience will be. For policy advocacy, here are some of the groups you may want to consider:
Elected officials:
A good choice if you want to create, pass, or change a law, or if the issue that you are working on specifically affects people in a particular city/district/state.
Federal agencies:
A good choice if you want to affect how policy is implemented, how money is spent, or where research effort is focused.
Lobbyists/private companies:
A good choice if your work aligns with the goals of a lobbying agency or a commercial company.
The rest of this section goes into detail about who these groups are and how best to communicate with them.
3.2. Elected officials
Elected officials are members of the government who have been elected to represent a group of people in a particular area. They exist at every level of government, from city council members to Congress. Because these representatives are elected, their primary responsibilities and goals are to serve the interests of their constituents. Their roles vary depending on the level of government that they work in, but elected officials typically help write and pass laws. If the issue that you want to speak about is related to a specific piece of legislation, or if it affects people in a particular region, then you may want to reach out to an elected official.
Elected officials have a wide variety of academic and career backgrounds, and they may or may not be familiar with the issue that you are bringing to them. Many members of Congress serve on committees, which specialize in particular areas. Some of these committees, such as the Committee on Natural Resources or the Committee on Sciences, Space, and Technology, may be especially relevant to your research. The members serving on these committees are more likely to have a working knowledge of your field. Most elected officials are supported by many staff assistants (staffers), who help them parse the information they receive and make policy recommendations. Staffers may specialize in a particular field of policy or they may provide advice on many topics.
In the United States, there are elected officials at the local (city and county), state, and federal levels. Local governments tend to focus on providing services and handling the day-to-day needs of the community. This includes things like public amenities (water, power, fire department, police, etc.), infrastructure (planning and zoning laws, roads, etc.), and services (libraries, parks, etc.). Broadly, state governments are responsible for affairs within their state while the federal government regulates anything that happens across and between states. However, in practice, those lines often blur.
When you are deciding who to talk to, consider which level of government is best suited to your work. If you want to impact a national policy, then you should probably aim to meet with a member of Congress. But, if you are trying to encourage stakeholders to start using a new technology, it may make more sense to begin at the local level, where government officials are more likely to be closely connected to community members. If applicable, consider starting with local government and working your way up to the state or federal level. Elected officials who are overseeing fewer people will generally have more time to meet with you and can help you build meaningful connections in their community. If you can find information about the elected official’s staff, and especially if they have a specialized staffer for science and technology issues, it is beneficial to reach out to the staffer directly first. These staffers may have more time to meet with you and more specialized expertise, and they are the ones who pass information and recommendations on to their offices.
If you are interested in meeting with a member of Congress, MIT’s Science Policy Initiative organizes Congressional Visit Days each year. This is a great opportunity to be guided through the process of meeting with a Congressional office. As part of this program, they also provide a resource that takes you through how to find the contact information for any Congressional staffer so that you can set up meetings on your own.
3.3. Federal agencies:
Federal agencies are part of the executive branch of the government and they are used to carry out and enforce the law. These agencies exist for a variety of purposes, including managing resources or overseeing industries. While elected officials can help determine whether or not a policy is passed, federal agencies affect how that policy is implemented. Some federal agencies, like the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), also allocate science and mission funding, help shape national research priorities, and conduct their own research as well. While agencies do contribute to the goals of a political administration, they are not beholden to a certain set of constituents. If you are interested in affecting how a policy is implemented, how money is spent, or how research is directed, then reaching out to a federal agency might be the right choice for you.
Federal agency employees are made up of both political appointees and career government workers. Compared to elected officials, federal agency employees are more likely to be subject matter experts in their agency’s field.
Agencies that may be relevant to aerospace research are:
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
- Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
- National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Department of Defense (DoD)
3.4. Lobbyists/Private companies:
Lobbyists are people who advocate professionally on behalf of groups, individuals, or companies. They try to influence policy in a way that benefits their clients. Most commercial aerospace companies (SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, etc.) and many research institutions (including MIT!) have government affairs offices based in Washington D.C. to enable them to build connections and participate in the policymaking process. There are also lobbying firms like The National Group or the BGR Group that focus specifically on aerospace and defense.
Lobbyists are professional advocates and most of them have spent years building up the skills and connections required to influence policymakers. If your work aligns with the interests of lobbyists and their clients, it may be more effective for you to work with a lobbyist rather than reaching out to elected officials or federal agencies on your own.
Commercial companies also play an important role in space policy. In the last decade, the government has begun to outsource many of its space activities to the private sector. If your work is related to future research directions or the development of space technology, it may make sense to reach out to a commercial company.
3.5. Constituents
Ultimately, all policymakers are chosen (directly or indirectly) by and serve constituents in their communities. Public interest and voter support can be hugely influential for science policy objectives. In addition to collaborating with policymakers directly, consider working with local institutions like schools or museums to host community events and inspire public interest.
3.6. Other things to consider:
- Whoever your intended audience is, make sure to consider the competing interests that they might be facing. Whether it is limited funding, pressure from their political party, or something else, what might make this person not want to support your ideas?
- Do not be afraid to reach across party lines. It is important to reach out to both people who already support your issue and those who currently do not.
- Consider starting local. When most people think of policy advocacy, their minds go straight to Washington D.C. However, there is a lot that can be accomplished locally, and local politicians may have more time and fewer competing interests.
- Connection is key. Politicians rely on a network of trusted sources for information and advice, and they will almost always turn to someone they trust before an unknown scientist or academic. Before reaching out to someone at random, see if there is a personal connection that you can leverage (through your advisor, through MIT, etc.) to help you get started. Forming these connections is also typically easier at the local level, where you can get directly involved with a community.
4. Best Practices
4.1. Preparation
After you have decided who you want to talk to, the next step is to make contact with them. But before you actually reach out to any policymakers, start by doing some research. Is anyone else doing advocacy work related to what you are working on? If so, consider reaching out and seeing if you can work together. Policymakers can become fatigued when many different people reach out to them about the same issue. It can also work against the issue if many people advocate for the same thing but with slightly different platforms. If possible, it is better for scientists to provide a unified front.
As mentioned previously, science policy is all about building connections and trust between policymakers and scientific advisors. If you are reaching out to a policymaker as an individual, consider if there is anyone in your life who knows this policymaker and can make an introduction for you and help establish you as a credible source. This could be your research advisor, a professional mentor, or someone at the MIT Washington office. If you do not have any personal connections to the policymaker, see our Cold Contacting Blog Post on best practices for contacting people for the first time.
Once your meeting is set up, it is time to prepare! It is important to do your homework on both the person that you are meeting with and the issue that you will be discussing. Who is the person that you are meeting with and how do they fit into the political process? If they are an elected official, make sure you understand who their constituents are as well. You also need to be aware of how your topic fits into the political process. Who is for or against this issue and why? Use this research to help you anticipate and prepare responses for the questions and pushback that you might get.
As a resource for aiding this research, MIT’s Science Policy Institute has a preparation guide for Congressional staffer meetings. This resource can help you understand the status of any piece of legislation, as well as allow you to identify who introduced, sponsored, or co-sponsored it.
4.2. Meetings and Presentations
Before the meeting begins, make sure that you have a goal in mind – what do you want to get out of this meeting? What next steps will you take after? The scope of a meeting should be limited to one or two topics.
Staffers and policymakers must make informed decisions on a wide variety of topics and thus must quickly get up to speed on new ideas. When going into a meeting, assume that your audience has no previous knowledge about your topic but will be able to learn quickly. Typical meetings are 15 to 30 minutes, but be aware that staffers and policymakers are extremely busy people. Be patient if someone is late or if your meeting is interrupted. Meetings may even end up being just a few minutes in the hallway! And even if you and the policymaker have met before, reintroduce yourself and your topic of discussion.
At the meeting, emphasize how you can assist the policymaker and how you can both achieve common goals by working together. Policymakers see everything through the lens of party priorities and constituent interests, so make sure to link your message back to those topics – do not rely on scientific fact alone. Emphasize personal narratives and shared values rather than data. If the policymaker has concerns, listen to them and be honest about the challenges and downsides of your proposal. Connect the meeting back to your goals and ask the policymaker to take a specific action.
Remember that even if the policymaker has a working knowledge of your topic, they are likely not a subject matter expert. Avoid acronyms and unnecessary technical jargon, and limit discussions of your research to only what is necessary to explain your goals. At the end of the meeting or presentation, leave behind some physical materials (fact sheets, short articles, etc.) to remind the attendees of what was discussed.
For additional guidance and annotated examples, see these other CommKit articles from the Biological Engineering Comm Lab:
Congressional Hill Meetings – a meeting with a congressional staffer and/or a congressional member
Policy Elevator Pitch – a very short pitch to get the audience interested in your idea and to encourage a longer meeting
Policy Presentation – an oral and visual presentation given to any policymakers(s)
4.3. Written Communication
For additional guidance and annotated examples, see these other Comm Kit articles from the Biological Engineering Comm Lab:
Letter of Support – a written document sent to policymakers expressing the author’s support for a policy
Op-Ed – an article expressing the author’s opinion, usually directed at a general audience
Public Commend on Pending Regulation – written comments that provide input on regulations proposed by federal agencies
4.4. Social Media
Social media can also be a powerful tool for science policy advocacy. It can help spread awareness for the issue more widely and can be used to help build public support. Social media is not usually an effective platform for nuanced policy discussions, but it can be very helpful for larger group efforts, such as encouraging many people to send messages asking an elected official to do something.
4.5. Following Up
Policymakers and their staffers frequently have back-to-back meetings on vastly different topics, and thus it can be difficult for them to remember and process the events of a presentation after the fact. Therefore, it is important to follow-up after a meeting or a presentation to thank the audience, recap what you discussed, and remind them of any actions or next steps that were planned.
Relationships between policymakers and scientific advisors are built out of trust and personal connection. Congressional staffers will turn to their trusted colleagues and advisors before they turn to academic experts for advice. If you hope to influence science policy, one of the best things that you can do is to build relationships with people across the political spectrum and at different levels of government.
5. Additional Resources
A Quick Guide to Effective Grassroots Advocacy for Scientists
How to Convince an Agency: a Handbook for Policy Advocates
R&D Means Something Different on Capitol Hill
6. Acknowledgements
Thank you to Mallory Kastner and Julian Ufert from the MIT Science Policy Initiative and Annabel Gomez for their review and contributions.