Aphorisms abound of policymaking as both ‘art’ and ‘science’, particularly in the face of bounded rationality and increasingly ‘wicked’ policy problems. Sense-making in such conditions often relies on more than simply scientific analysis. Policymakers are also ‘guided by an ‘internal compass’ from which everything can be checked to determine a sense of ‘rightness’’ (Smythe & Norton, 2007). This takes in, for example, the values and worldviews that are compatible with their attitudes toward particular policy issues (6 & Swedlow, 2016). Yet contingent situations often demand a more holistic approach (Simmons, 2011). This paper asks: what mechanisms can be put in place to help policy-makers navigate this terrain, develop clearer understandings and more effective responses? Employing a recent application of Cultural Theory (Simmons, 2016) it adds a map to the policy-maker’s compass to assist such understandings, and to guide such responses through more appropriate processes of knowledge articulation and institutional work.
