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Dealing with the challenges of legitimacy, values, and politics in policy advice

Author

Listed:
  • Giliberto Capano
  • Michael Howlett
  • Leslie A Pal
  • M Ramesh

Abstract

Policy advice has been the subject of ongoing research in the policy sciences as it raises fundamental issues about what constitutes policy knowledge, expertise, and their effects on policymaking. This introduction reviews the existing literature on the subject and introduces the themes motivating the articles in the issue. It highlights the need to consider several key subjects in the topic in the contemporary era: namely the challenge of legitimacy, that of values, and the challenge of politics. The papers in the issue shed light on the ongoing delegitimization of conventional knowledge providers, the problem of the normative basis of experts’ advice, the increasing politicization of expertise in policymaking, and the relevance of political context in influencing not only the role of experts but also whether or not their advice is accepted and implemented. It is argued that these modern challenges, when not addressed, reinforce trends toward the inclusion of antidemocratic values and uninformed ideas in contemporary policymaking.

Suggested Citation

  • Giliberto Capano & Michael Howlett & Leslie A Pal & M Ramesh, 2023. "Dealing with the challenges of legitimacy, values, and politics in policy advice," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 42(3), pages 275-287.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:polsoc:v:42:y:2023:i:3:p:275-287.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/polsoc/puad026
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Caner Bakir, 2023. "The vicious circle of policy advisory systems and knowledge regimes in consolidated authoritarian regimes," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 42(3), pages 419-439.
    2. Beryl A. Radin, 1997. "Presidential address: The evolution of the policy analysis field: From conversation to conversations," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(2), pages 204-218.
    3. Jing Zhao & Xufeng Zhu, 2023. "Spreading expertise: think tanks as digital advocators in the social media era," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 42(3), pages 359-377.
    4. Craft, Jonathan & Howlett, Michael, 2012. "Policy formulation, governance shifts and policy influence: location and content in policy advisory systems," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 32(2), pages 79-98, August.
    5. Azad Singh Bali & M Ramesh, 2023. "Knowledge–practice gap in healthcare payments: the role of policy capacity," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 42(3), pages 406-418.
    6. Leslie A Pal, 2023. "Speaking good to power: repositioning global policy advice through normative framing," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 42(3), pages 347-358.
    7. Anthony Perl & Michael Howlett & M. Ramesh, 2018. "Policy-making and truthiness: Can existing policy models cope with politicized evidence and willful ignorance in a “post-fact” world?," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 51(4), pages 581-600, December.
    8. Natália Massaco Koga & Ana Paula Karruz & Pedro Lucas de Moura Palotti & Marcos Luiz Vieira Soares Filho & Bruno Gontyjo do Couto, 2023. "When bargaining is and is not possible: the politics of bureaucratic expertise in the context of democratic backsliding," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 42(3), pages 378-391.
    9. Melissa-Ellen Dowling & Tim Legrand, 2023. "“I do not consent”: political legitimacy, misinformation, and the compliance challenge in Australia’s Covid-19 policy response," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 42(3), pages 319-333.
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