Politics, public administration, and evidence-based policy

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2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

There is a growing trend in academic scholarship of public policy to discount the role of evidence in informing public sector decision making, both in positive terms (public policy decisions are not, and possibly cannot be, based on evidence) and normative terms (public policy should not be based on evidence). This chapter presents an overview of the current debates in this area, and argues that many viewpoints, although popular, are too extreme, rely on questionable assumptions, and in some cases are somewhat counterproductive. Evidence-based policy is not, as is often argued by critics, a fixed end goal under which decision making is automated, reducing governance to a series of algorithms performed by machines or by human technocrats. Rather, it is an aspiration to enhance the quality of information that feeds into the decision making process, expand the capacity of the public sector's administrative apparatus to process this information and use it for the creation of advice, and educate the voting public on important matters of public concern. Seen in this light, evidence-based policy is an approach concerned with improving public sector decision making, and ultimately, the governing of society.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationHandbook on the Politics of Public Administration
EditorsAndreas Ladner, Fritz Sager
Place of PublicationCheltenham UK
PublisherEdward Elgar Publishing
Chapter8
Pages82-92
Number of pages11
Edition1st
ISBN (Electronic)9781839109447
ISBN (Print)9781839109430
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Publication series

NameElgar Handbooks in Public Administration and Management

Keywords

  • Evidence-based policy
  • Evidence-informed policy
  • Policy analysis
  • Policy capacity
  • Research utilization

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