INTRODUCTIONThis chapter aims to provide an overview of the different conceptions of the relationship between knowledge and policymaking, as well as of the dynamics that hinder or facilitate the use of knowledge in policymaking, stemming from a conception of knowledge as an element intrinsic to the policymaking process. The starting point is the notion of evidence-based policy that has pervaded the literature on policy advice over the last decades. This notion has rather been employed as a (sometimes undefined or blurred) mantra in both the literature and policymaking circles in the wake of the new public management movement that originated in Anglo-Saxon governmental environments. According to this mantra, knowledge, particularly in the form of evidence, needs to be employed by policymakers in a systematic way (Kelman, 1968; Merton, 1949; Lindblom and Cohen, 1979; Weiss, 1979). Starting from this governmental turn, and particularly over the last three decades, there has been flourishing literature focusing on the role of ideas, advice, and evidence in policymaking (Christensen, 2021); firstly in the healthcare field (Parkhurst, 2017), later in other policy fields such as education (Davies, 1999; Slavin, 2008) and criminal justice (Welsh and Farrington, 2001), and today prominently in the environmental policy area (Capano and Malandrino, 2022). Investigating the dynamics of knowledge use in policymaking is all the more important in light of the developments in the structure of the policy and political environment, which today see populism, fragmentation, and uncertainty as key features (Capano et al., 2023). Uncertainty, in particular, has proven to be a structural element in the definition of both policy problems and solutions not only during the acute phases of crises (Nair and Garg, 2024) but often also under ordinary conditions. The chapter is structured as follows. The second section illustrates two main different conceptions of the relationship between knowledge and policy, i.e., the conception that sees knowledge as instrumental to policymaking versus the conception according to which knowledge is embedded in the policymaking process. The third part offers an overview of the main literature trends on the knowledge-policy relationship. The fourth section details the dynamics of the use of knowledge in policymaking, with a focus on policy capacities, values and interests, relationships and institutional arrangements, as well as knowledge types. Finally, in the Conclusions, we call for greater awareness on the part of policy scholars to include knowledge as a constitutive component of policymaking
Capano, G., Malandriono, A. (2025). Speaking truth to power: the dynamics of knowledge use in policymaking. Cheltenham : Edward Elgar.
Speaking truth to power: the dynamics of knowledge use in policymaking
Giliberto Capano;
2025
Abstract
INTRODUCTIONThis chapter aims to provide an overview of the different conceptions of the relationship between knowledge and policymaking, as well as of the dynamics that hinder or facilitate the use of knowledge in policymaking, stemming from a conception of knowledge as an element intrinsic to the policymaking process. The starting point is the notion of evidence-based policy that has pervaded the literature on policy advice over the last decades. This notion has rather been employed as a (sometimes undefined or blurred) mantra in both the literature and policymaking circles in the wake of the new public management movement that originated in Anglo-Saxon governmental environments. According to this mantra, knowledge, particularly in the form of evidence, needs to be employed by policymakers in a systematic way (Kelman, 1968; Merton, 1949; Lindblom and Cohen, 1979; Weiss, 1979). Starting from this governmental turn, and particularly over the last three decades, there has been flourishing literature focusing on the role of ideas, advice, and evidence in policymaking (Christensen, 2021); firstly in the healthcare field (Parkhurst, 2017), later in other policy fields such as education (Davies, 1999; Slavin, 2008) and criminal justice (Welsh and Farrington, 2001), and today prominently in the environmental policy area (Capano and Malandrino, 2022). Investigating the dynamics of knowledge use in policymaking is all the more important in light of the developments in the structure of the policy and political environment, which today see populism, fragmentation, and uncertainty as key features (Capano et al., 2023). Uncertainty, in particular, has proven to be a structural element in the definition of both policy problems and solutions not only during the acute phases of crises (Nair and Garg, 2024) but often also under ordinary conditions. The chapter is structured as follows. The second section illustrates two main different conceptions of the relationship between knowledge and policy, i.e., the conception that sees knowledge as instrumental to policymaking versus the conception according to which knowledge is embedded in the policymaking process. The third part offers an overview of the main literature trends on the knowledge-policy relationship. The fourth section details the dynamics of the use of knowledge in policymaking, with a focus on policy capacities, values and interests, relationships and institutional arrangements, as well as knowledge types. Finally, in the Conclusions, we call for greater awareness on the part of policy scholars to include knowledge as a constitutive component of policymakingI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
