LSE blogs argues Evidence based policymaking is about power: to decide what counts as evidence

Blog focuses on the example of the difference in regulation of alcohol and tobacco in post war United Kingdom. Paul Cairney, Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the University of Stirling, argues that a focus on ‘the evidence’ can only partially explain policy change, since the gap between evidence and a proportionate tobacco policy response was 20-30 years. The ‘evidence matters’ when policymakers accept it and have the motive and opportunity to act on it.