Persuading the Public on Evidence-Based Policy

This book offers the first practical, step-by-step guide to adversarial co-production: a survey-based method for persuading sceptical publics to support evidence-based policy.
The Common Sense Policy Group's method inverts a familiar political assumption. Rather than treating firm opponents as obstacles, it recruits them to write the most persuasive arguments in the policy's favour, then synthesises and tests those arguments on large, representative samples. In every policy area tested, opposition weakens and support rises by a statistically significant margin. The book explains why this works and guides readers through each stage, from screening surveys that identify firm opponents, through co-producing narratives, to large-sample testing. Written for an era of permacrisis, when transformative policy is urgent but political nerve scarce, the book shows that communities often cast as barriers to progressive reform are among its strongest potential supporters.
This is an essential resource for policy researchers, political communication and campaign professionals, third sector and community organisations, and postgraduate students in public policy, political science and social policy who want to move public opinion on the evidence, not around it.