Erik Albæk

Between knowledge and power: Utilization of social science in public policy making

Most conceptualizations of the linkage between science and politics have traditionally been informed by rationalist concepts of science and decision-making. The result has been a false dichotomy between (legitimate) rational research utilization and (illegitimate) political research utilization. This dichotomy must be overcome, on normative as well as empirical grounds. Scientifically generated knowledge constitutes an important, but on the whole unquantifiable part of the enormous store of knowledge which participants in the politico-administrative decision-making process apply to their practical tasks. To understand the complex interfaces between social science research and the political-administrative decision-making process, it is necessary to be aware that research is transferred to, and becomes part of, a discourse of action, in the philosophical as well as the everyday practical sense — a discourse in which (self)reflecting participants deliberate on and debate norms and alternatives with a view to concrete action. This makes the contribution of science to policy making both less tangible and potentially more influential than is usually assumed.

Experts in the Mass Media: Researchers as Sources in Danish Daily Newspapers, 1961–2001

This study of journalists 1961–2001 use of researchers in three national Danish daily newspapers identifies a dramatic and accelerating sevenfold increase in the number of articles referring to researchers—an increase that is related to a significant shift in which types of researchers are cited and for what purpose. Researchers communicate research results much less than they did in the past; instead, they increasingly serve as expert commentators on knowledge produced outside of research institutions, on political and administrative decisions, and on other events. Second, because researchers more frequently comment on such wide-ranging, socially and politically important matters, it is now social scientists, rather than hard scientists, who appear most often.

Political Ethics and Public Policy: Homosexuals between Moral Dilemmas and Political Considerations in Danish Parliamentary Debates

Political science has abundantly proved that politics involves power, conflict, and self-serving interests. Much less frequently does political science deal with ethics in public policymaking. This article analyses the appeal to moral principles in the political process of drafting three bills, all concerning homosexuals, in which the Danish parliamentary parties, in contrast to normal practice, allowed their members to deviate from the party line and vote in accordance with their ‘conscience’. Analysis of the cases indicates that moral considerations are capable of structuring and constraining arguments and that they are decisive for some politicians’ positions in some situations. The cases also raise doubts concerning the widely held view that decisions based on votes of conscience, because they are informed by ‘ethical’ rather than ‘political’ considerations, are qualitatively superior to ordinary political decisions.

Policy evaluation: Design and utilization

In the 1960s when evaluation research came into fashion in the US, the assumption was that it would be used by public policymakers in an instrumental way for purposes of problem solving. This entailed a linear, knowledge-driven model for research utilization in which a direct relationship exists between knowing and doing (i.e., knowledge leads to action). The model combined the “rational” paradigm of organizational theory and the “scientific” paradigm of positivist philosophy of science into a consistent model of how evaluation research should be conducted and would be utilized. Both with respect to its normative and its empirical dimensions, original evaluation research model failed. Today evaluation research and its utilization are seen in quite a different perspective. However, though a parallel paradigm revolution or shift has taken place both with respect to the organization theory of evaluation research and its methodological basis, no new comprehensive and coherent evaluation research model has emerged to replace the original linear one.In the 1960s when evaluation research came into fashion in the US, the assumption was that it would be used by public policymakers in an instrumental way for purposes of problem solving. This entailed a linear, knowledge-driven model for research utilization in which a direct relationship exists between knowing and doing (i.e., knowledge leads to action). The model combined the “rational” paradigm of organizational theory and the “scientific” paradigm of positivist philosophy of science into a consistent model of how evaluation research should be conducted and would be utilized. Both with respect to its normative and its empirical dimensions, original evaluation research model failed. Today evaluation research and its utilization are seen in quite a different perspective. However, though a parallel paradigm revolution or shift has taken place both with respect to the organization theory of evaluation research and its methodological basis, no new comprehensive and coherent evaluation research model has emerged to replace the original linear one.

Post-1970 "budgetary cooperation" between central and local government in Denmark

As the result of a major local government reform in 1970, most welfare functions in Denmark are dealt with at the local level of government, effectively turning the extensive Danish welfare state into welfare communes as municipalities are called in the Scandinavian languages. With more than half of the countrys total public expenditure being spent by local authorities, regulation of local govenment budgets has become a major concern in the economic policy of the Danish central government. Since the early 1980s the realization of the goal of limited growth in Danish local government spending has been quite successful. One explanation for this comparatively successful regulation of local government spending in Denmark can be foundin the combined effects of two factors: 1) Danish local authorities have the independent right to levy taxes, and 2) the regulation of local budgets is the result of a negotiated agreement between central and local government actors, known in Danish as budgetary cooperation.