Evidence-Based Policy-Making: The Elusive Search for Rational Public Administration

Evidence-based policy making has been criticised as a revival of the ‘rationality project’ in which democratic politics is regarded as rent-seeking and a deadweight loss to society. In response, the evidence-based policy movement has failed to articulate a defence in which the rationality animating the policy process is situational and contextual rather than unique and authoritative. This article traces the movement's motto –‘what works?’– to the American pragmatist movement, whose influence on Harold Lasswell and New Labour in the UK was substantial. This article argues that the ambition for evidence-based policy-making should be seen in terms of the transition from a single, unique and universal rationality toward multiple rationalities that vary according to different policy making contexts. Interpreted in such terms, evidence-based policy making can avoid several of the main criticisms, and offer strong potential to contribute to solving policy problems.