The Public Policy Research Initiative (PPRI) is an undergraduate research group composed of a dozen students from the University of Toronto. It annually coordinates two collaborative research projects on Canadian public policy and governance, and publishes white papers that result in policy recommendations.
Research Agenda
The PPRI’s research objectives are to provide a trenchant evaluation of specific political and social issues for Ontario’s citizens, and to make an institutional assessment of the parliamentary system itself.
The former project consists of positions papers that will be made available to our delegates as resources to inform the discussions and debates occurring at the parliamentary simulation. Not only does the PPRI provide the academic substance of the debate at the simulation, it also gives undergraduate students experience in a professional research setting.
The latter project will be a broader, more theoretical investigation of the foundations of the parliamentary system itself. It will analyze the parliamentary process and assess its merits and defects while attempting to devise innovative recommendations to improve the parliamentary system. The task is building another kind of model parliament – one that will serve as a template for a democratic and vigorous parliamentary government.
Dates
Author & Researcher Recruitment – September 2009
Project Teams Formed – Early October 2009
Research Begins – October 2009
Workshops at UTMP – December 2009
First Peer Review Period – March 2010
Discussion Panel – April 2010
Second Peer Review Period – April 2010
Final White Papers Published – May 2010
Size of Research Apparatus
Twelve undergraduate researchers including analysts and lead-researchers, as well as two research project directors.
Project Details
Two research projects – one examining an Ontario focused public policy issue, and another on governance reform. Each produces a white paper in early spring – the paper is presented at a discussion panel, and published in mid-May.
Contact Information
Aberdeen Berry, Research Director
aberdeen.berry@utmodelparliament.org
Patrick Baud, Research Director
patrick.baud@utmodelparliament.org
The Public Policy Research Initiative (PPRI) is a student-led research group housed in the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto. Annually, it undertakes collaborative research projects that explore issues in Canadian public policy and governance. Each project seeks to identify and explore contemporary issues in the structure and practice of Canadian governance, on both the federal, provincial, and municipal levels, as well as policy issues of long-term significance to Canadians. The PPRI undertakes research during the academic year, and employs a rigorous applied research model. Each project culminates in a series of panel discussions in early spring, a number of journal articles published throughout the research period, and a white paper that offers pragmatic policy recommendations. The PPRI is advised by faculty at the University of Toronto, practitioners in Toronto’s public policy community, and a number of thought-leaders and politicians.
The PPRI is fully affiliated with Connecting Minds, a student-led not-for-profit which organizes a number of leadership, engagement and research activities. Connecting Minds seeks to develop a network of Canadian youth engaged with the study of public policy, who are committed to the ideas of active citizenship, leadership, and service. Connecting Minds undertakes a project-based approach, focusing on the delivery of programming in the short and medium term. Connecting Minds is sanctioned by Trinity College in the University of Toronto, and can offer charitable tax receipts.
