Social science and policy challenges : democracy, values and capacities / edited by Georgios Papanagnou.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Papanagnou, Georgios.

Unesco.

Series:

Research & policy series (Unesco)

Research & policy series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social sciences--Research.

Social sciences.

Social sciences and state.

Policy sciences.

Physical Description:

299 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Paris : UNESCO Pub., 2011.

Summary:

Producing scientific knowledge that can inform solutions and guide policy-making is one of the most important functions of social science. Nonetheless, if social science is to become more relevant and influential so as to impact on the drawing and execution of policy, certain measures need to be taken to narrow its distance from the policy sphere.

This decision is less obvious than it seems. Both research and experience have proved that policy-making is a complex, often sub-rational, interactive process that involves a wide range of actors such as decision makers, bureaucrats, researchers, organised interests, citizen and civil society representatives and research brokers. In addition, social science often needs to defend both its relevance to policy and its own scientific status.

Moving away from instrumental visions of the link between social research and policy, this collective volume aims to highlight the more constructed nature of the use of social knowledge. Hence, it addresses issuer pertaining to the epistemology of social scientific research the role of social interaction and power in the production of knowledge and the institutional links that bridge research and policy. The authors' contributions promote a lively, scholarly discussion on democracy and participation as well as on values and capacities in the scientific making of policy, that will enlighten the interested reader and enrich the academic and policy debates, while suggesting concrete proposals for capacity-building. Book jacket.

Contents:

Building bridges? The challenges of social science for policy / Georgios Papanagnou

Making social science matter / Bent Flyvbjerg

Policy problems and democratic politics : instrumental rationality reconsidered / Douglas Torgerson

Social sciences and policy impact : the case for a participatory approach / Luk van Langenhove

Policy expertise and critical evaluation / Steven Griggs and David Howarth

Knowledge and politics inside the policy process : contradiction or complementarity? / Philippe Zittoun

Influencing policy : experience from the field / Fred Carden

Knowledge networks and transnational policy processes / Diane Stone

Think tanks, discursive institutionalism and policy change / Stella Ladi

Bringing EU social sciences and humanities research into policy : experience and prospects / Nikos Kastrinos

International organizations, social science research and national policy-making in Brazil : is it only evidence that matters? / Carlos R.S. Milani.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9789231042263

9231042262

OCLC:

758394035