How can we demonstrate the public value of evidence-based policy making when government ministers declare that the people ‘have had enough of experts’?

Andrews, Leighton ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9166-0116 2017. How can we demonstrate the public value of evidence-based policy making when government ministers declare that the people ‘have had enough of experts’? Palgrave Communications 3 , 11 (2017). 10.1057/s41599-017-0013-4

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Abstract

Recent political campaigns on both sides of the Atlantic have led some to argue that we live in the age of ‘post-factual’ or ‘post-truth’ politics, suggesting evidence has a limited role in debate and public policy. How can we demonstrate the public value of evidence-informed debate under those circumstances? Survey evidence on public attitudes to expertise offers some hope that the tone of much of this debate is unduly pessimistic. While policy-making always develops in an environment where evidence is contested, this paper will argue that understanding of the routines through which Ministers work and assimilate evidence is actually under-researched. Not only are Ministers open to evidence, but there is an institutional grounding for evidence-based policy in government. Meanwhile, the creation of devolved institutions has created new sites in the UK for evidence-based policy-making, despite the political tensions between UK and devolved governments. Drawing on academic and think tank insights, and experience as a Welsh Government Minister between 2007 and 2016, this paper argues for three key approaches for the academic community to adopt: understanding the temporal focus of ministers, building trust amongst ministers and those who advise them in the evidence-promoting capacity of the academic policy community, and shaping the wider authorising environment, including the media that contributes to the framing of key policy debates.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Business (Including Economics)
Publisher:	Palgrave
ISSN:	2055-1045
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	3 April 2018
Date of Acceptance:	25 September 2017
Last Modified:	08 May 2023 10:09
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/105060

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