Reviewing the science-policy relationship: The policy as theory alternative (PAST)

Much extant analysis of the science-policy relationship is based on there being two distinct epistemic entities. Recently analysts have posited that there is a significant shift in the way knowledge in science is produced, communicated and used, and that policy and policymaking have several characteristics in common with the production of knowledge in science. In the light of this, a concept is developed of the science-policy relationship that builds on the Blume-Majone notion of policy as theory (PAST), in which policy is seen as developing its own ‘quasi-scientific’ imperatives, leading to an informal knowledge production that is policy-specific rather than bound to the scientific sphere. By explicating the nature of PAST, an alternative approach is proposed to the science-policy interface in which bureaucracy and administration assume a defining role. A number of suggestions are made as to how to understand and manage the science-policy dialogue in the light of PAST. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.