Form follows function in evidence-based public policy: the pragmatic alternative to the positivist orthodoxy

• Pablo GARCÉS ^[1]
  1. [1] Universidad Católica del Ecuador(Ecuador)
• Localización: Revista Iberoamericana de Estudios de Desarrollo= Iberoamerican Journal of Development Studies, ISSN-e 2254-2035, Vol. 8, Nº. 2, 2019, págs. 44-68
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.26754/ojs_ried/ijds.310
• Títulos paralelos:
  • El diseño depende de la funcionalidad en la política pública basada en la evidencia: la alternativa pragmática a la ortodoxia positivista
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo (pdf)
• Dialnet Métricas: 1 Cita
• Resumen
  • español

    Desde hace cierto tiempo, existe un impulso para políticas públicas basadas en la evidencia. La premisa es que políticas nutridas por información y análisis confiables alcanzarán los resultados esperados. En gran medida, esta demanda se ha respondido mediante evidencia apoyada en el enfo-que dominante en las ciencias: el «positivismo». En este artículo se arguye que el positivismo tiene importantes limitaciones que lo hacen perjudicial para ese proyecto. Así, se presenta al pragmatismo como una alternativa plausible. El argumento parte de la filosofía de la ciencia, se establecen los principios que sustentan cada enfoque y se desarrolla cómo se traducen en la producción y la eva-luación de evidencia. El abandono de la búsqueda positivista de certezas por la admisión pragmática de la pluralidad de la experiencia humana y la diversidad de contextos permite establecer un alcance más claro para el uso de evidencias, lo que mejora potencialmente la efectividad de las políticas públicas basadas en ellas.

  • English

    For quite some time now there has been a push for more evidence-based public policy. The premise has been that policies informed by reliable data and analysis will achieve their expected results. In great measure, this demand has been answered by evidence built on the dominant approach in science: «positivism». In this paper, it is argued that positivism has important shortcomings which make it detrimental to that project. Thus, it makes the case for pragmatism as a plausible alternative. The argument departs from the philosophy of science, establishing the principles underlining each approach and then elaborates how they translate to the production and evaluation of evidence. The abandonment of the positivist pursuit of certainty for a pragmatic recognition of the plurality of human experience and the diversity of contexts allows to set a clearer scope for the use of evidence, potentially enhancing the effectiveness of policies based on it.

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