The most radical and surprising development in Washington policymaking today is the use of scientific research to determine what does or doesn’t work in government spending.
Basing spending on rigorous evaluation of a program’s results may seem self-evident, but it has never been a significant part of Washington’s work — until now. The Obama administration placed evidence-based policymaking at the heart of six major social initiatives covering job training, career education, K-12 education, teen pregnancy, and maternal and infant well-being, and the effort is beginning to bear fruit.
That’s the view of Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution, a leading advocate of the approach and coauthor of what may become its handbook, “Show Me the Evidence,” a 2014 book examining the six initiatives. Haskins has solid Republican credentials as a former GOP counsel to the House Ways and Means Committee, and expertise in welfare reform and child care. But he praises the Obama White House for “attempting to change the culture of the entire field of social intervention” to bring scientific evaluation to the forefront.
That’s a daunting challenge, because even before a government program is established it must be backed by powerful constituencies. “Many programs were started with good intentions and supported by compelling anecdotes, but don’t deliver results,” wrote Peter Orszag, Obama’s former budget advisor, in 2009. “And once programs have been in place for a while, evaluating them rigorously becomes difficult.”
Haskins offers a “whimsical” pie chart displaying the factors that he believes influence legislation, including: political parties 8%, lobby groups 6%, the media 6% — and research 1%. Haskins acknowledges that research may never be the prime mover in social programs, but it should have more weight than it does now.