When it comes to public policy research, Dartmouth College students are filling in the gaps for lawmakers who lack the resources to analyze complicated issues.
Over the last five years, the Dartmouth Policy Research Shop has become a valuable, nonpartisan asset for lawmakers in New Hampshire and Vermont.
Government professor Ron Shaiko, who recently secured a $750,000 grant to expand the program’s scope and promote the model nationally, says students have overcome lawmakers’ resistance with their carefully researched reports and testimony.
Students are working on six projects for New Hampshire and two for Vermont, with topics ranging from an analysis of business taxes to measuring child poverty.