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Abstract

This paper draws on the initial experience of the Welsh Assembly Government's approach to policy-making to draw out some of the potential tensions between policy based on a participative model and evidence-based policy-making. The overall outcome in Wales has been twin-track, focusing on core values and wider involvement in policy while at the same time strengthening technical policy capacity. The paper views evidence as a broad church in which professional expertise informs a process of wider engagement. It concludes by considering the effectiveness of some of the individual initiatives in Wales and suggesting possible ways ahead.

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Evidence Based or People Based Policy Making?: A View From Wales

Abstract

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