Confronted with complex dynamics such as global warming or food insecurities, decision-makers need to rely on the educated advice of specialists. At the same time, however, citizens question the role of expertise in society more than ever. Both tendencies can be observed: the expertization of democracy and the democratization of expertise. This chapter aims at critically exploring the relationships among science, policy and society. In taking up the problems and paradoxes of policy expertise, key questions are addressed: How is policy expertise generated, communicated and justified? How do cultural contexts shape and constrain the politics of policy expertise? How can we explain changes? To answer these questions the view of ‘political epistemology’ is adopted: Expertise is conceptualized as a nexus of authority attributions embedded in discursive and institutional cultures. It is also argued that in the post-national constellation these arrangements increasingly come under pressure. This opens up opportunities for a critical re-examination of public knowledge production.
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Front Matter
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PART I: Origins and Theoretical Development: From Lasswell to Habermas and Foucault
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PART II: Theoretical Perspectives: Critical Reflexivity, Hegemony and Power
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PART III: Discursive Politics: Deliberation, Justice, Protest and Emotion
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PART IV: Policy Processes: Problem Definitions, Evidence and Social Construction
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PART V: The Politics of Policy Expertise: Knowledge, Think-Tanks and Action Research
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PART VI: Methodological Issues: Interpretation, Framing and Social Constructions
