IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/policy/v57y2024i1d10.1007_s11077-024-09523-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Beyond evidence-based policymaking? Exploring knowledge formation and source effects in US migration policymaking

Author

Listed:
  • Andrea Pettrachin

    (University of Turin
    Collegio Carlo Alberto)

  • Leila Hadj Abdou

    (European University Institute)

Abstract

Several scholars have observed persistent gaps between policy responses to complex, ambiguous and politicized problems (such as migration, climate change and the recent Covid-19 pandemic) and evidence or ‘facts’. While most existing explanations for this ‘evidence-policy gap’ in the migration policy field focus on knowledge availability and knowledge use by policymakers, this article shifts the focus to processes of knowledge formation, exploring the questions of what counts as ‘evidence’ for migration policymakers and what are the sources of information that shape their understandings of migration policy issues. It does so, by developing a network-centred approach and focusing on elite US policy-makers in the field of irregular and asylum-seeking migration. This ‘heuristic case’ is used to challenge existing explanations of the ‘evidence-policy gap’ and to generate new explanations to be tested in future research. Our findings—based on qualitative and quantitative data collected in 2015–2018 through 57 elite interviews analysed applying social network analysis and qualitative content analysis—challenge scholarly claims about policymakers’ lack of access to evidence about migration. We also challenge claims that migration-related decision-making processes are irrational or merely driven by political interests, showing that policymakers rationally collect information, select sources and attribute different relevance to ‘evidence’ acquired. We instead highlight that knowledge acquisition processes by elite policymakers are decisively shaped by dynamics of trust and perceptions of political and organizational like-mindedness among actors, and that political and ideological factors determine what qualifies as 'evidence' in the first place.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Pettrachin & Leila Hadj Abdou, 2024. "Beyond evidence-based policymaking? Exploring knowledge formation and source effects in US migration policymaking," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 57(1), pages 3-28, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:policy:v:57:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s11077-024-09523-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s11077-024-09523-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11077-024-09523-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11077-024-09523-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lowande, Kenneth, 2018. "Who Polices the Administrative State?," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 112(4), pages 874-890, November.
    2. Graeme Auld & Steven Bernstein & Benjamin Cashore & Kelly Levin, 2021. "Managing pandemics as super wicked problems: lessons from, and for, COVID-19 and the climate crisis," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 54(4), pages 707-728, December.
    3. Philip Leifeld & Volker Schneider, 2012. "Information Exchange in Policy Networks," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(3), pages 731-744, July.
    4. Graham, Erin R. & Shipan, Charles R. & Volden, Craig, 2013. "The Diffusion of Policy Diffusion Research in Political Science," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(3), pages 673-701, July.
    5. Erik Baekkeskov, 2016. "Explaining science-led policy-making: pandemic deaths, epistemic deliberation and ideational trajectories," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 49(4), pages 395-419, December.
    6. Marlene Kammerer & Chandreyee Namhata, 2018. "What drives the adoption of climate change mitigation policy? A dynamic network approach to policy diffusion," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 51(4), pages 477-513, December.
    7. Ron Boschma, 2005. "Proximity and Innovation: A Critical Assessment," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 61-74.
    8. Magnus Nilsson, 2019. "Proximity and the trust formation process," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(5), pages 841-861, May.
    9. Alan Abramowitz & Jennifer McCoy, 2019. "United States: Racial Resentment, Negative Partisanship, and Polarization in Trump’s America," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 681(1), pages 137-156, January.
    10. Kelly Levin & Benjamin Cashore & Steven Bernstein & Graeme Auld, 2012. "Overcoming the tragedy of super wicked problems: constraining our future selves to ameliorate global climate change," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 45(2), pages 123-152, June.
    11. Mathias Czaika & Hein De Haas, 2013. "The Effectiveness of Immigration Policies," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 39(3), pages 487-508, September.
    12. Hopkins, Daniel J., 2010. "Politicized Places: Explaining Where and When Immigrants Provoke Local Opposition," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 104(1), pages 40-60, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Katherine H. Tennis & Rachel Sullivan Robinson, 2020. "Where Do Population Policies Come From? Copying in African Fertility and Refugee Policies," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(2), pages 175-205, April.
    2. Utku Ali Rıza Alpaydın & Rune Dahl Fitjar, 2024. "How do university‐industry collaborations benefit innovation? Direct and indirect outcomes of different collaboration types," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), June.
    3. Gerlinde Behrendt & Sarah Peter & Simone Sterly & Anna Maria Häring, 2022. "Community financing for sustainable food and farming: a proximity perspective," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(3), pages 1063-1075, September.
    4. Pranpreya Sriwannawit & Ulf Sandström, 2015. "Large-scale bibliometric review of diffusion research," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(2), pages 1615-1645, February.
    5. Tõnurist Piret, 2017. "Energy Technology Innovation Systems in a Transnational Perspective: Small States, Public Ownership and Diverging Policy Rationales," NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy, Sciendo, vol. 10(2), pages 191-201, December.
    6. Jeremy Galbreath & David Charles & Eddie Oczkowski, 2016. "The Drivers of Climate Change Innovations: Evidence from the Australian Wine Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 217-231, May.
    7. Jussi S. Jauhiainen, 2021. "Entrepreneurship and Innovation Events during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The User Preferences of VirBELA Virtual 3D Platform at the SHIFT Event Organized in Finland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-22, March.
    8. Steven Bernstein & Matthew Hoffmann, 2018. "The politics of decarbonization and the catalytic impact of subnational climate experiments," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 51(2), pages 189-211, June.
    9. Lorenzo Ciapetti, 2011. "Technological Change, Knowledge Integration and Adaptive Processes: The Mechatronic Evolution of the Reggio Emilia District," Chapters, in: Paul L. Robertson & David Jacobson (ed.), Knowledge Transfer and Technology Diffusion, chapter 5, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Vinko Muštra & Blanka Šimundić & Zvonimir Kuliš, 2020. "Does innovation matter for regional labour resilience? The case of EU regions," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(5), pages 955-970, October.
    11. Amélie Loriot & Valérie Guillard & Fabrice Larceneux & Jean-Philippe Bertocchio, 2024. "Patients’ Representations of Perceived Distance and Proximity to Telehealth in France: Qualitative Study," Post-Print hal-04442039, HAL.
    12. Emma Howard, 2017. "Social networks, geographic proximity, and firm performance in Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-69, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Jarle Aarstad & Olav Andreas Kvitastein & Stig-Erik Jakobsen, 2019. "What Drives Enterprise Product Innovation? Assessing How Regional, National, And International Inter-Firm Collaboration Complement Or Substitute For R&D Investments," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(05), pages 1-25, June.
    14. Emanuela Marrocu & Raffaele Paci & Stefano Usai, 2013. "Productivity Growth In The Old And New Europe: The Role Of Agglomeration Externalities," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 418-442, August.
    15. Shuai Shi & Kathy Pain, 2020. "Investigating China’s Mid-Yangtze River economic growth region using a spatial network growth model," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(14), pages 2973-2993, November.
    16. Natalie Slawinski & Jonatan Pinkse & Timo Busch & Subhabrata Bobby Banerjeed, 2014. "The role of short-termism and uncertainty in organizational inaction on climate change: multilevel framework," Working Papers hal-00961226, HAL.
    17. Wang, Liang & Tan, Justin & Li, Wan, 2018. "The impacts of spatial positioning on regional new venture creation and firm mortality over the industry life cycle," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 41-52.
    18. Bahar, Dany & Rosenow, Samuel & Stein, Ernesto & Wagner, Rodrigo, 2019. "Export take-offs and acceleration: Unpacking cross-sector linkages in the evolution of comparative advantage," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 48-60.
    19. Jonas Heiberg & Bernhard Truffer, 2021. "The emergence of a global innovation system – a case study from the water sector," GEIST - Geography of Innovation and Sustainability Transitions 2021(09), GEIST Working Paper Series.
    20. Dezhong Duan & Qifan Xia, 2022. "From the United States to China? A trade perspective to reveal the structure and dynamics of global electronic‐telecommunications," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 823-847, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:policy:v:57:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s11077-024-09523-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.