Trajectories of Evidence Use in Policymaking Across Institutions, Policy Areas and Countries

Evidence-informed Policymaking (EIPM) is an all-encompassing term for the use of evidence- mainly referring to scientific evidence- in policymaking. However, an in-depth analysis of the concept and the processes involved reveals interesting specificities and factors that affect evidence utilisation in policy making domains. Different institutions (i.e public administration, legislatures) may follow different paths in evidence use (Ouimet et al 2024). Similarly, variations on the intensity and the types of evidence used are reported across policy areas with some policy areas, like health and social affairs having a longer tradition in evidence -based policies. The question on what constitutes ‘evidence’ comes as one of the main factors that affect EIPM and how it is used across institutions and policy areas. ‘Hierarchies of evidence’ and long standing ‘evidence cultures’ across policy areas exhibit a variety of patterns in evidence utilisation and how evidence is perceived in a discipline (Bandola- Gil et al 2024). Ultimately all the aforementioned factors, among others, affect the type of evidence produced as most valued and consequently what is considered relevant evidence in a policy area The Joint Research Centre has undertaken several studies and projects to analyse both factors that affect evidence utilisation and country specific perspectives (i.e. France, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, Greece). This paper provides a conceptual elaboration and meta-analysis of the relevant literature on the interrelation between evidence use across policy areas and institutions with insights on country-specific approaches on EIPM in the effort to shed light on the nuances of evidence use in policymaking References: Bandola-Gill, J., Andersen, N. A., Leng, R., Pattyn, V., & Smith, K. E. (2024). A matter of culture? Conceptualizing and investigating “Evidence Cultures” within research on evidence-informed policymaking. Policy and Society,online first Budtz Pedersen, D. and R. Hvidtfeldt (2021), “The Danish Eco-System of Science for Policy Discussion Paper,” 2021, www.ufm.dk/dfir. European Commission, JRC, Maxim, L., Scientific expertise and insights into public policy in France, Krieger, K. and Melchor Fernandez, L. editor(s), Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/196603, JRC130684. European Commission, JRC, Cañibano, C. and Real-Dato, J., The Spanish scientific and technical advisory ecosystem for public policy, Melchor Fernandez, L. and Krieger, K. editor(s), Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/452411, JRC135017 Ladi, S., Panagiotatou, D. and Angelou, A., The Greek ecosystem of science for policy, Krieger, K. and Melchor Fernandez, L. editor(s), EUR 31022 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2022, ISBN 978-92-76-49467-6, doi:10.2760/338170, JRC128855. Ouimet, M., Beaumier, M., Cloutier, A., Côté, A., Montigny, É., Gélineau, F., ... & Ratté, S. (2024). Use of research evidence in legislatures: a systematic review. Evidence & Policy, 20(2), 226-243. Oliver, K., Assessing national institutional capacity for evidence-informed policymaking: the role of a science-for policy system, Krieger, K. and Melchor, L. (editors), Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2022, ISBN 978-92-76- 53653-6, doi:10.2760/951556, JRC129898. Simões, V.C., Science for policy in Portugal, Melchor, L. and Krieger, K., editor(s), EUR 31023 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2022, ISBN 978-92-76-49470-6, doi:10.2760/88096, JRC128856.