Where does Evidence-based Policymaking come from?
Using evidence to inform policy is not a new idea. What is new and interesting, however, is the increasing emphasis that has been placed on the concept in the UK over the last decade. The term evidence-based policymaking (EBP) has gained political currency under the New Labour governments since 1997. The emphasis was intended to signify the entry of a government with a modernising mandate, one committed to replacing ideologically driven politics with rational decision making. EBP has now become a focus for a range of policy communities, whether government departments, research organisations or think-tanks. What is EBP? EBP is an approach that ‘helps people make well informed decisions about policies, programmes and projects by putting the best available evidence from research at the heart of policy development and implementation’ (Davies, 2004: 3). EBP is a discourse or set of methods which informs the policy process, rather than one which aims directly to affect the eventual goals of
