• Week 2: Policy windows and links to evidence

    I use the example of the recent agreement to phase out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) to raise the question of why policy happens at one time and not another and how action is linked to evidence  The evidence (the underlying science) has not … Continued

  • Week 1: Michaelmas 2016: experts in a world of post-truth politics

    Apologies for the delay in getting the first blog uploaded. There seems to have been a bit of a snafu since various Cambridge Wordpress accounts had been attacked by hackers. Hopefully this is all sorted now. The danger of writing about the current … Continued

  • Week 8: Politics of the Anthropocene

    I was not particularly keen to bring up climate change again since we already waded through the gore that is national INDCs.  I was inclined to offer a foray into LSE’s excellent series of retrospective evaluations that they conducted for … Continued

  • Week 7: Using evidence in decision making

    This week, we turn to the ubiquitous role that evidence plays in the decision making process.  Quite obviously, societal decisions do not simply depend on the weight of the evidence and can turn on ideology, norms, beliefs, history and path dependence, … Continued

  • Week 6: Terrorism, technology and privacy

    For the last couple of weeks, even before it was brought up in the supervision, I have wanted to tackle healthcare policy, but I think we have to continue our discussion on privacy given recent unfortunate events in Paris.  It … Continued

  • Week 5: Foresight and the future of cities

    The main project operating under the UK Foresight programme at the moment is on the Future of Cities, which is intended to look at ‘the opportunities and challenges facing UK cities over the next 50 years’.  They have recently published a somewhat … Continued