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Policy Practitioners’ Accounts of Evidence-Based Policy Making: The Case of Universal Credit

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 July 2018

MARK MONAGHAN Open the ORCID record for MARK MONAGHAN [Opens in a new window]  and
JO INGOLD
MARK MONAGHAN
Affiliation:
Social Sciences, Loughborough University, Brockington Building, Loughborough LE11 3TU, United Kingdom email: m.monaghan@lboro.ac.uk
JO INGOLD
Affiliation:
Business School, University of Leeds, Maurice Keyworth Building, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS2 9JT, United Kingdom email: j.ingold@leeds.ac.uk
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Abstract

This paper draws on insider accounts from UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) officials to analyse the relationship between evidence and policy making at a time of rapid policy development relating to Universal Credit (UC). The paper argues, firstly, that evidence selection within the DWP was constrained by the overarching austerity paradigm, which constituted a Zeitgeist and had a significant bearing on the evidence selection and translation process, sharpening the focus of policy officials and analysts on the primacy of quantitative evidence when advising Ministers. Secondly, while methodological preferences (or an ‘evidence hierarchy’) impacted on evidence selection, this was not as significant as practitioners’ perceived capabilities to handle and develop evidence for policy. These capabilities were linked to departmental structures and constrained by political feasibility. Together, these dimensions constituted a significant filtration mechanism determining the kinds of evidence that were selected for policy development and those omitted, particularly in relation to UC. The paper contributes to debates about the contemporary role of evidence in policymaking and the potential of the relationship between future evidence production and use.

Type
Article
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 48 , Issue 2 , April 2019 , pp. 351 - 368
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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