Why and how do ministries use evidence? Lessons from Danish primary education and active labour market policy

We are excited to welcome Jonas Videbæk Jørgensen and Jesper Dahl Kelstrup (Roskilde University, Denmark) for our third talk in this year’s SKAPE seminar series, where we will be discussing the use of evidence in policymaking.

Abstract

The capacity of ministries to draft and implement policies, their role in providing advice to elected ministers, as well as their resources and expertise make ministries key actors in linking political decision-making with different forms of information. Ministries can therefore be important drivers for evidence-based policymaking. However, we know surprisingly little about why and how ministries use evidence to inform public policymaking. In this seminar, we present and discuss findings from our study on evidence-based policymaking in Danish ministries. Employing a new approach to measure evidence use through documents, and key informant interviews, we examine how evidence has been used in Danish primary education and active labour market policies from 2016-2021 and propose explanatory factors that may account for variation across ministries.

Speakers

Jesper Dahl Kelstrup is an Associate Professor in European Public Policy at Roskilde University, Denmark. His research explores institutions and actors in European public policies with an emphasis on their knowledge dissemination and utilization. To learn more, visit his institutional profile here.

Jonas Videbæk Jørgensen is a PhD researcher at Roskilde University, Denmark. His PhD project examines how government ministries in Denmark consider and use evidence in relation to active labour market and primary education policies. To learn more, visit his institutional profile here.

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This event will take place in person at the University of Edinburgh, Chrystal Macmillan Building, Room 3.15.

Cover photo credit: Photo by Rasmus Smedstrup Mortensen on Unsplash.