The Politics of Evidence-Based Policy Making

The Politicsof Evidence Based Policymaking identifies how to workwith policymakers to maximize the use of scientific evidence. Policymakers cannotconsider all evidence relevant to policy problems. They use two shortcuts:'rational' ways to gather enough evidence, and 'irrational' decision-making,drawing on emotions, beliefs, and habits. Most scientific studies focus on the former.They identify uncertainty when policymakers have incomplete evidence, and tryto solve it by improving the supply of information. They do not respond toambiguity, or the potential for policymakers to understand problems in verydifferent ways. A good strategy requires advocates to be persuasive: formingcoalitions with like-minded actors, and accompanying evidence with simple storiesto exploit the emotional or ideological biases of policymakers.