But, as the fractious debates made clear, the real world does not work that way. Scientists and politicians operate within different epistemological frameworks. This often means that what appears as an imperative course of action to one group is merely a potential — and not necessarily desirable — way forward to the other.
In the developed world, factors such as economic or political self-interest can often be blamed for the gap between evidence and policymaking. In the case of global warming, for example, most of those who continue to challenge the scientific evidence live in countries (such as the United States) that stand to lose most from curbs on carbon emissions.
In the developing world, in contrast, the failure to take scientific evidence into account in policy discussions tends to result from a lack of familiarity with the scientific method, or its significance and its limitations.
Policymakers in these countries not only need to be aware of the scientific knowledge relevant to the decisions that they face, they also need to know the status, validity and limits of such knowledge compared with that from other sources — whether anecdotes from colleagues or political realities described in the media. Read the full report here.
Source: by David Dickson, Business Daily.
