News and views from the Blavatnik School of Government community 
I’ve just finished running a global commission based here at the Blavatnik School of Government: Pathways for Prosperity, co-chaired by – among others – Melinda Gates. It was set up to challenge the narrative that in developing countries, technology necessarily equals catastrophic job losses and widening inequalities, and to explore […]
In 2018, Uganda passed a daily ‘social media tax’ of 200 Ugandan shillings (around US$0.05) for several internet applications, including Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. Policymakers hoped the measure would increase revenue. It backfired: after the introduction of the tax, use of online platforms and tax revenues from these services plummeted […]
Christina is an engaged, capable and professional young woman. She excelled in her university studies and had the pick of employers for her first job. A strong commitment to her community led her to work for her country’s government, where she has progressed rapidly through a set of increasingly challenging […]
At the Blavatnik School of Government students are taught how to critically analyse, develop, and influence public policy. The tools and skills gained by students are universal and the ability to think about policy challenges through economic, philosophical, legal, scientific, and political lenses opens a wide array of professional paths. […]
One of my cardinal objectives for applying to the Master of Public Policy (MPP) programme at the Blavatnik School of Government was exploring how to improve communications between think tanks and policymakers in Nigeria. My own experience working with Nigerian think tanks has taught me that, regardless of the rigour […]
When I first suggested the topic of this blog to a friend, he said it was an oxymoron. Design and government? Thinking and government? If design thinking is all about putting people first, many do not believe that policies really put people first. The design thinking process involves many steps […]
Eurosceptics in the UK and elsewhere often argue that the EU subverts democracy by forcing countries with different values and economic systems to follow the same rules. The Vote Leave Campaign, for instance, laments that “Politicians have surrendered the UK’s power to veto laws we disagree with, so if the […]
Academics and policymakers need to work harder to ensure that the best evidence informs and gets translated into the most effective public policies. That is one of the main underlying conclusions from the “Challenges of Government: Flourishing Cities” conference, organised by the Oxford Blavatnik School of Government and held in Oxford last week.