The rise of evidence

A striking change in government in the 20th century was the massiverise in the number of organisations seeking explicitly to advise orinfluence governments in their actions. Examples include pressuregroups of one sort or another, university researchers, independent‘think-tanks’, professional bodies and statutory organisations. Oneof the most important instruments used by such organisations is theassembly and presentation of ‘evidence’ of one sort or another. Witha few startling exceptions (most notably Margaret Thatcher'sdoctrine of ‘conviction politics’, echoed in William Hague's ‘commonsense revolution’), governments have become increasingly receptiveto certain types of evidence. This rise of evidencebased policy reached its apotheosis in 1997,when a Labour government was elected with the philosophy of ‘whatmatters is what works’ – on the face of it signalling a consciousretreat from political ideology. Subsequent government initiatives,which aim to take forward the Modernisinggovernment agenda, have confirmed the central role thatevidence is expected to play in policy making for the 21st century(see Chapter Two).

There has also in recent years arisen an atmosphere of increasingpublic and political scepticism towards the actions of professionalscharged with delivering public services. At the start of the 20thcentury there appears to have been a general assumption thatdoctors, police officers, teachers and other professionals were theexperts, whose judgement was to be trusted, and who were thereforeleft relatively unchallenged to carry out their duties. By the endof the century this culture of public trust had been severelydiluted, as an increasingly educated, informed and questioningpublic sought reassurance that its taxes were being well spent. Incontrast to the preceding culture of largely judgement-basedprofessional practice, there has arisen the important notion ofevidence-based practice as a meansof ensuring that what is being done is worthwhile and that it isbeing done in the best possible way.

This rise in the role of evidence in policy and practice is theresult of a number of factors, which include: the growth of anincreasingly welleducated and well-informed public; the explosion inthe availability of data of all types, fuelled by developments ininformation technology (IT); the growth in size and capabilities ofthe research community; an increasing emphasis on productivity andinternational competitiveness, and an increasing emphasis onscrutiny and accountability in government.