2005-05-02 Every politician should read it, and the good ones will!

This book says that the policies of governments should be based on evidence. It cannot be anything but helpful to those engaged in the specialist trade of good government - especially for those of integrity who struggle with the task of representing that vague agglomeration of diverse and unpredictable beings, who people in government often refer to, with mild apprehension, as "the public". Personal experience is the stock in trade of the door step exchange, and the complaint in a surgery or via email or on a phone-in. Yet it is lowest in the heirarchy of the kind of evidence that should be a vital part of government policy. How does the politician balance the strong emotional content delivered via the personal experience that their voters have of crime, health care, schooling, transport and the rest with the truths that emerge from professionally collected data in controlled experiments over time? Answer: with difficulty. This book's editors and authors do not underrate the value of tacit knowledge based on street level experience. Its great strength is that, rather than unleashing the arrogance of the rational researcher on an unthinking and unreasonable populace, it argues the case for seeking a balance between political reality based on being attentive to personally interpreted experiences and the constant search for evidential understanding of complex issues. For government to be democratic rather than populist it should be based on "what works". The title sums it up! Practical intelligence at work - authored by academics who respect practitioners and write for intelligent people in public life. For anyone who struggles courageously to frame policies that will address the "wicked issues" this book is a sort of life belt. Oh and by the way - a message to those who work for politicians - make sure you've read it too!