The Role of Knowledge in Governance

The Section ‘The Role of Knowledge in Governance’ provides the long-standing forum for a growing and diverse body of research on the relationship between knowledge, policy and politics. The section invites panels and papers interested in issues such as the role of scientific evidence in policy-making; the political uses of knowledge; the social construction of expertise; the formation and functioning of epistemic communities; the democratization of expertise and the ‘participatory turn’ in knowledge production; the politicization of knowledge use; and the emergence of post-truth politics. The section applies for 6-8 panels to address the following topics: The governance of social and economic problems increasingly relies on the continuous production and use of scientific evidence and research. This trend has been especially prevalent in areas of policy characterised by risk and uncertainty where science and expertise are often vital to political and bureaucratic decision-making. Yet both the production of scientific expertise and its uses in the political context have raised important empirical and theoretical questions. The section invites 1-2 panels in this area of empirical and theoretical research. A particular focus in research on knowledge and governance has been the organization and institutionalization of the nexus between science and politics, its variation across political and geographical space, and its reconfiguration over time. This research observes organizational boundaries as well as the structures and interactions of knowledge networks and epistemic communities in the national, transnational and global context. The section invites 1-2 panels in this area of empirical and theoretical research. The emergence of post-truth politics has forced political science to confront questions of knowledge and politics with new urgency. This section continues to provide a home for the ongoing academic debate of these developments and their empirical and theoretical implications for politics and political research. Especially the current global pandemic has provided a vivid backdrop against which to reassess the varying dynamics of post-truth politics in different political contexts, as well as the emergence of both radicalization and counter mobilization along a new social, cultural and political cleavage in modern politics. The section invites 1-2 panels in this area of empirical and theoretical research. More generally, the ongoing pandemic has yet again highlighted the importance of understanding dynamics of politicization and contestation of knowledge in democratic politics. In democratic governance, conflicts over knowledge are becoming as common as conflicts over interests and ideology, yet they continue to draw less research attention. The section invites 1-2 panel to highlight current trends in the contestation of knowledge in democratic politics from both empirical and theoretical perspectives.