Evidence-Based Policy: Conceptualization and Assessment of Its Implementation in Russia
Keywords:
Evidence-based policy, government decision-making, information and analytical justification of government decisions, expertise, expert communityAbstract
The evidence-based policy is aimed at rationalization of the process of making government decisions by providing internal and external expertise and information and analytical support for their development and justification. The implementation of the evidence-based policy concept in practice is wider than using scientific and expert knowledge in the decision-making process, and it covers various forms of interaction of government bodies with the expert community and public. The focused interview with government authorities and the representatives of scientific and expert community showed that the spread of evidence-based policy in Russian realities is limited by a range of factors. They include mistrust of government authorities to experts as the holders of scientific knowledge, political bias of experts, unwillingness of civil servants to use analytical data in decision-making, as well as initiate information and explanatory campaigns that provide reasoned justification of the made decisions for the public. The lack of communication platforms necessary for interaction between public authorities and the expert community in the decision-making process, the impact of electoral restrictions, values, interest groups and other factors on the decision-making process also hinder the dissemination and development of evidence-based policy ideas in Russia.
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