From where do legislators draw scientific knowledge? Organizations as scientific authorities in four countries' parliamentary debates

Bibliographic Data

ID5614397
AuthorsJukka Syväterä (0000-0001-5387-667X, University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland, corresponding author), Marjaana Rautalin (0000-0002-9037-2793, Tampere University Tampere Finland), Attila Kustán Magyari (0000-0002-7204-4024, Tampere University Tampere Finland)
Year2023
Volume74
Issue2
Pages222-240
Publication date2023-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-1315 • E-ISSN: 1468-4446
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1468-4446.12989
PMID36566454
OpenAlexW4312140807
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited72

Organizations far beyond traditional academic institutions have become prolific science producers, with many now providing evidence-based advice for national governments and policy-makers. Neo-institutional sociology explains organizations' growing investment in research activities and research-based policy advice by the all-embracing scientization and the expansion of the educated population, phenomena observable throughout the world. There is, however, considerably less knowledge about how the organizations' increased knowledge production and the supply of science-based policy advice are reflected in national policy-making, including the legislative work of parliaments, and to what extent distinct organizations are deemed authoritative in different countries. In this paper, we examine how different organizations are used as scientific authorities in parliamentary debates over new legislation. Drawing on analyses of 576 parliamentary debates from Australia, Finland, Kenya, and the United Kingdom, we study what organizations are acknowledged as scientific authorities and the relative weight of different organization types in the context of political debates over new legislation. The results reveal that while organizations in general are frequently evoked as scientific authorities in all four countries, there is remarkable variation in the types of organizations considered authoritative in different national contexts. We elaborate these findings by analysing ways in which politicians evaluate organizations as sources of scientific authority. While the same set of evaluative schemas are used in all four countries, each is typically applied to certain types of organization. The results suggest that both the supply of scientific policy advice and political culture shape legislators' rhetorical practices when drawing on organizations' scientific authority

Context (archaeology · Legislation · Legislature · Political science · Politics · Population · Public relations · Rhetorical question · Social science · Sociology · Sociology of scientific knowledge · Work (physics · Law · Management and Organizational Studies · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Public Administration · Social and Cultural Dynamics