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Academics and Policymaking -- A New Connection in the World of Labor Law

By Jack M. Balkin

As Balkinization readers are aware, I'm quite interested in finding ways to bridge the divide between the academy and policymaking. Though it is true that scholarship and policymaking are often quite different enterprises, it is also true that many scholars come up with perfectly sensible policy proposals, either as a direct or indirect product of their research. As Chair of the Tobin Project's Democratic Governance Working Group, I've spent some time thinking about precisely how good scholarly ideas manage to get traction with policymakers. Indeed, each of our meetings has produced at least one idea that has made its way into the world.

That's why I was delighted to see that an idea proposed by Ben Sachs, an assistant professor at Harvard, has made its way to the Hill. In mid-April, Sachs proposed a smart compromise for those arguing about the Employee Free Choice Act, one that left space for unions to organize without employer harassment (something unions want) while preventing unions from placing undue pressure on employees (something employers want). That proposal is now building up momentum on the Hill, according to the New York Times. In the meantime, the scholarly paper on the idea has been accepted by the Harvard Law Review. Having talked to Ben about the future of labor law when he was a fellow here at Yale, it's good to see an academic figuring out how to speak to people on both sides of the scholarly/policymaking divide.

Full post as published by Balkinization on May 14, 2009 (boomark / email).