Whispering to the prince; academic experts and national security policy formulation in Brazil, South Africa and Canada

This thesis posits three sets of factors governing academics' participation in security policy formulation processes at the national level. These are uncertainty; policymaker attributes such as specialised knowledge, institutionalised prestige and specific forms of argumentation; and the normative resonance of experts' inputs with policymakers' expectations. The argument follows a triple progression: from structural to ideational factors; from the notion of value-free science to embrace of self-conscious policy advocacy; and a progression of types of input mirroring the advancement of the policy process. These claims were tested through extensive field research covering the policy processes in Brazil, South Africa and Canada over the last ten years; catpub05; geudbu/04.2005; Situated at the confluence of several avenues of research, the investigation provides important insights into policy relevance, the relationship of theory and practice; the role of outside actors in policy processes, and the interplay between the normative and scientific commitments of social scientists.