Truth and Politics: Thinking About Evidence‐Based Policy in the Age Of Spin

Abstract

Evidence‐based policy and the contemporary politics of spin are said to characterise contemporary politics and policy. The paper asks firstly what sense is to be made of this coincidence, and then documents this coincidence. It then asks how credible is the conception of ‘evidence’ espoused by advocates of evidence‐based policy when it is conventionally represented as an ‘objective’ counter to ideology, spin or opinion? It points to major problems with the conventional understandings of ‘evidence’. It is suggested that while the evidence‐based policy literature relies on the associations ‘evidence’ is presumed to have with ‘sensory data’, this is neither the case nor all that defensible. The paper reprises arguments advanced by Henry Mayer and Hannah Arendt that the relationship of politics to the empirical was and is a far more complex relationship than is conventionally understood to be the case.

Mobilising evidence in public policy: The contribution of the evidence provider

“…A growing literature also questions whether the concept of EBP misrepresents relationships between evidence and policy, some commentators suggesting that a more realistic goal might be ‘evidence‐aware’, ‘evidence‐informed’ or ‘evidence‐influenced’ policy (Argyrous, , p. 457; Watts, , p. 34). For example, policy framing influences the relative value placed on different forms of evidence.…”

Academic research and engagement with the Canadian public service: Insights from three surveys

“…The political use of evidence reduces the effectiveness of the process for example through biased selection of information and goals (Weiss ; Head ; Knaggård ). The existence of multiple potential interpretations of evidence (Watts ), especially in social policy fields and existing cultural differences between those who produce evidence and those who use it both affect the process (Mead ). The poorly and/or broadly defined policy objectives often associated with complex policy areas can reduce the effectiveness of evidence‐based decision‐making (Newman and Head ; Head ).…”

“…A final debate exists in the literature surrounding policy advice and knowledge. How can we explain what appears to be a minimal impact on the actual process of policy-making (Head 2010a(Head ,2010bCorbett and Bogenschneider 2011;Cartwright and Hardie 2012;John 2013;Watts 2014;Head 2014;Newman 2016) even as both the literature and folk wisdom underscore its relevance and there is a substantial body of literature arguing for its use (Head 2013;Howlett and Wellstead 2011). Attempts at explaining these underwhelming results rely on four arguments.…”

NSW Workers’ Compensation Reform: A Parody of Evidence‐based Policy Making

“…As Head (:397) observes ‘analytical evidence does not give rise to policy decisions in a straight‐forward way’ because of the complex decision‐making processes involved in translating evidence into policy, the numerous sources of evidence potentially available, and the fact that evidence itself is contestable. The use of evidence is also subject to the political nature of the activity, with bureaucrats bound by government priorities, electoral cycles, stakeholders, and lobbyists of varying influence (Watts ).…”

“…In an environment where EBP is widely advocated and endorsed and, typically, evidence from a range of stakeholders is gathered publicly through inquiries and in‐house or commissioned research, there is an expectation that policy will be founded on evidence (Bell ; Davies ). Commentators acknowledge that, in practice, political and other factors limit achievement of this, prompting critics to argue a more appropriate term for such policy making might be ‘evidence‐aware’, ‘evidence‐informed’, or ‘evidence‐influenced’ (Argyrous :457; Watts :34). Indeed, governments can strategically use evidence to ‘buffer decisions from public scrutiny’, and legitimate or deflect attention from unpopular policies, rather than as a genuine basis for rigorous policy making (Turnpenny et al :760).…”