Justin Parkhurst The politics of evidence: from evidence- based policy to the good governance of evidence Book (Published version) Original citation: Parkhurst, Justin (2017) The politics of evidence: from evidence-based policy to the good governance of evidence. Routledge Studies in Governance and Public Policy. Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon, UK. ISBN 9781138939400 Reuse of this item is permitted through licensing under the Creative Commons: © 2017 The Author CC BY-NC-ND This version available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/68604/ Available in LSE Research Online: December 2016 LSE has developed LSE Research Online so that users may access research output of the School. Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. You may freely distribute the URL (http://eprints.lse.ac.uk) of the LSE Research Online website. ‘This book is a marvellous interdisciplinary synthesis, grounded in case examples and at once critical and constructive. As such, it is both instructive for policy practitioners as well as moving the scholarship of the field forward.’ –Vivian Lin, Professor of Public Health, La Trobe University, Australia ‘This is essential reading for anybody working on the smarter use of evidence by government. It catalogues the many biases twisting how research is used by policymakers. It also addresses a vital challenge in our sector – a lack of legitimacy. As well as the academic rigour of this book, there are practical tips on what we can do about these problems, and lessons from across the globe showing where we get it wrong – and how we might get it right.’ – Jonathan Breckon, Head of the Alliance for Useful Evidence, UK ‘This important book goes well beyond standard analyses of evidence informed policy with detailed discussions of the politics of evidence and the political origins (and the cognitive psychology) of bias in the use of research evidence. It addresses a core and often overlooked issue of the governance of evidence use – including the need to consider the institutions and processes in place that can enable the appropriate use of evidence in decision making. This book will be a pretty essential read for anyone concerned with the policy, practice or study of using research to inform decision making.’ – David Gough, Professor of Evidence Informed Policy and Practice, Director of the EPPI-Centre, University College London, UK The Politics of Evidence There has been an enormous increase in interest in the use of evidence for public policymaking, but the vast majority of work on the subject has failed to engage with the political nature of decision making and how this influences the ways in which evidence will be used (or misused) within political areas. This book pro- vides new insights into the nature of political bias with regards to evidence and critically considers what an ‘improved’ use of evidence would look like from a policymaking perspective. Part I describes the great potential for evidence to help achieve social goals, as well as the challenges raised by the political nature of policymaking. It explores the concern of evidence advocates that political interests drive the mis- use or manipulation of evidence, as well as counter-concerns of critical policy scholars about how appeals to ‘evidence-based policy’ can depoliticise political debates. Both concerns reflect forms ofbias – the first representingtechnical bias, whereby evidence use violates principles of scientific best practice, and the sec- ond representing issue bias in how appeals to evidence can shift political debates to particular questions or marginalise policy-relevant social concerns. Part II then draws on the fields of policy studies and cognitive psychology to understand the origins and mechanisms of both forms of bias in relation to politi- cal interests and values. It illustrates how such biases are not only common, but can be much more predictable once we recognise their origins and manifestations in policy arenas. Finally, Part III discusses ways to move forward for those seeking to improve the use of evidence in public policymaking. It explores what constitutes ‘good evidence for policy’, as well as the ‘good use of evidence’ within policy processes, and con- siders how to build evidence-advisory institutions that embed key principles of both scientific good practice and democratic representation. Taken as a whole, the approach promoted is termed the ‘good governance of evidence’ – a concept that represents the use of rigorous, systematic and technically valid pieces of evidence within decision- making processes that are representative of, and accountable to, populations served. Justin Parkhurst is an Associate Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science’s Department of Social Policy. This book was written while he was previously Senior Lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s Department of Global Health and Development. 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Khan Plamen Makariev The Politics of Evidence From evidence-based policy to the good governance of evidence Justin Parkhurst First published 2017 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2017 Justin Parkhurst The right of Justin Parkhurst to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.tandfebooks.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Names: Parkhurst, Justin O., author. Title: The politics of evidence : from evidence-based policy to the good governance of evidence / Justin Parkhurst. Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016022525| ISBN 9781138939400 (hardback) | ISBN 9781315675008 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Policy sciences. | Research—Evaluation. | Social policy. Classification: LCC H97 .P3725 2017 | DDC 320.6—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016022525 ISBN: 978-1-138-93940-0 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-67500-8 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK For Skye and Rae Contents List of figures x List of tables xi List of boxes xii Acknowledgements xiii PART I Evidence-based policymaking: opportunities and challenges 1 1 Introduction 3 2 Evidence-based policymaking: an important first step and the need to take the next 14 PART II The politics of evidence 39 3 Bias and the politics of evidence 41 4 The overt politics of evidence: bias and the pursuit of political interests 65 5 The subtle politics of evidence: the cognitive-political origins of bias 84 PART III Towards the good governance of evidence 105 6 What is ‘good evidence for policy’?: from hierarchies to appropriate evidence 107 7 What is the ‘good use of evidence’ for policy? 128 8 From evidence-based policy to the good governance of evidence 147 Index 175 Figures 2.1 Results of a meta-analysis 19 3.1 Correlation does not mean causality: example 49 3.2 Senegal’s HIV prevalence over time compared to other select countries 51 3.3 Senegal’s HIV prevalence over time compared to its neighbours 52 6.1 Evidence may or may not address the policy concerns at hand 112 6.2 Evidence may be constructed in ways more or less useful for policy goals 115 6.3 Evidence may be more or less applicable in the local policy context 117 6.4 Appropriate evidence for policy context 118 6.5 A conceptualisation of good evidence for policy 123 8.1 Elements of the good governance of evidence 163 8.2 The conceptual path taken 168 Tables 3.1 A multiple politics of evidence framework 59 5.1 A cognitive-political model of evidentiary bias 97 7.1 Legitimacy framework for evidence-informed policy processes 141 8.1 Forms of bias and example institutional responses 155 8.2 Features of the good governance of evidence 161 Boxes 2.1 Selected evidence terminology 17 6.1 What is good evidence for development policy? 110 7.1 Decision authority over cancer drug provision in the UK 134 8.1 Guided evolution to institutionalise evidence improvements: the case of DEFRA 165 Acknowledgements This work was supported by a grant from the European Research Council (GRIP-Health: Getting Research into Policy in Health, grant #282118).