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本文考察历史研究在政策制订中做出根本贡献的三个主要领域。第一，史家作为研究往昔的专家，其贡献在于界定和保护民族的集体记忆，而且在史实或对史实的分析构成当代某种特定问题的来源之际，对之提出疑问和重加解释。第二，通过提供历史环境的细节，史家能够把当代的问题置于更广泛的时间维度之中来考虑，在与往昔的情景相比较的基础上，加深对当代问题的理解而扩大备择方案的范围；并进而评价过去政策的真正结果，根据往昔的经验对当代可能发生而受到关切的问题作出预测。第三，通过追踪决策过程以及有关个人和机构在决策过程中所起的作用，史家能够提醒人们注意不同的政策抉择方案的原由和后果，从而为决策提供更为符合理性的途径。本文最后还就改进历史研究者与决策部门之间的合作提出了一系列建议。
This article examines three major areas in which historical research has made a fundamental contribution to policymaking. First, historians, as experts in the past, contribute to defining and protecting the nation’s collective memory and questioning and reinterpreting it when the facts or historical facts form the source of a particular contemporary issue. Second, by providing details of the historical environment, historians can consider contemporary issues in a wider range of time dimensions, consider alternatives to the contemporary issues more deeply based on comparisons with past scenarios And then to assess the real results of past policies and predict the issues of concern that may arise in the contemporary era based on past experience. Third, by tracking the decision-making process and the role that individuals and institutions play in the decision-making process, historians can draw attention to the rationale and consequences of different policy options and thus provide a more rational approach to decision-making. Finally, the paper also put forward a series of suggestions on how to improve the cooperation between history researchers and decision-making departments.