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Conclusion: How to Respond to the Limits of EBPM

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The Politics of Evidence-Based Policy Making

Abstract

This chapter identifies how scientists, seeking to influence the policy process, can act in a more informed way. Should scientists stop bemoaning the real world and start adapting to it? I consider alternative ways to think about evidence-based policymaking, considering the legitimate role of elected policymakers, to pay selective attention to scientific evidence, and weigh it up against the preferences of other participants in the policy process, such as ‘the public’, the users of public services, and the organisations charged with implementing policy. In that context, I outline a set of ways in which scientists can adapt, to influence, rather than simply bemoan the pathologies of, the policy process.

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Cairney, P. (2016). Conclusion: How to Respond to the Limits of EBPM. In: The Politics of Evidence-Based Policy Making. Palgrave Pivot, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51781-4_5

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