Learning through comparison when studying evidence and policy
Smith, Katherine E. and Andersen, Niklas A. and Pattyn, Valérie (2025) Learning through comparison when studying evidence and policy. Evidence and Policy. ISSN 1744-2648 (https://doi.org/10.1332/17442648y2025d000000051)
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Abstract
The aim of this special themed section is to demonstrate the conceptual and empirical contribution that comparative perspectives offer in advancing scholarship on the evidence-policy interplay. It is motivated by our sense that a lack of comparative analysis within this area of research risks conceptual confusion and contributes to limited engagement with the more political dimensions of evidence use. It brings together four papers which, between them: examine evidence use across different government ministries within the same country; provide a cross-national comparison of parliamentary institutions to support evidence use; explore variations in evaluation approaches within different national settings; and reflect on how perspectives on evidence shift when researchers become politicians, trying to navigate complex policy environments. We use this editorial to reflect on three cross-cutting themes that emerge from these four contributions. First, a tendency for dominant disciplines to shape evidence cultures in policy settings. Second, the complexity of policy making, which, in democracies, necessarily includes political dimensions. These two themes inform a third, the need for realism when working to support the use of evidence in policy. We conclude by arguing that this themed section highlights the contextual, divergent and contingent nature of evidence use in policy. By showcasing four contrasting approaches to comparative analysis of evidence use, we hope to encourage a desire to learn from, and reflect on, the insights provided by less familiar contexts and disciplines, while also underlining the necessity of considering the political and democratic dimensions of evidence use in policy.
ORCID iDs
Smith, Katherine E.
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Item type: Article ID code: 92496 Dates: DateEvent24 March 2025Published24 March 2025Published Online3 March 2025Accepted24 February 2025SubmittedSubjects: Political Science > Political science (General) Department: Strategic Research Themes > Society and Policy
Strategic Research Themes > Health and Wellbeing
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) > Social Work and Social Policy > Social Work and Social Policy > Social Policy
University of Strathclyde > University of StrathclydeDepositing user: Pure Administrator Date deposited: 01 Apr 2025 08:57 Last modified: 02 Apr 2025 01:09 Related URLs: URI: https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/92496