Learning in policy formulation: Ministerial advisers’ information utilisation and instrumental learning in Francophone Belgium
(2019) 13th ECPR General Conference — Location: Wroclaw (4.September.2019)
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- Authors
Squevin, Pierre Louis Daniel 
- Abstract
- Information is the most critical resource in policy formulation, but the systematic analysis of its use has been neglected so far. Information is the raw material of policy learning, and in particular of individual learning by policy advisors, who are the specialists in charge of policy formulation in top governmental arenas. We define policy learning as the acquisition, translation and dissemination of new information and knowledge, stemming from multiple actors’ interactions and the accumulation of evidence over time. It is a process of updating knowledge and beliefs about public policy. We concentrate specifically on instrumental learning. At the individual level of policy advisors, instrumental learning is explained by the characteristics of the advisor. A series of variables reflecting those characteristics are measured and then analyzed using original data collected through a quantitative survey targeting ministerial cabinet advisors in the federated Belgian entities of Wallonia and Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. In Belgium, most of policy formulation is made in ministerial cabinets, and not so much in ministries. Conducted in 2018-19, the electronic survey is targeting all the cabinet members of the 13 ministers in the current legislature (2014-19) (N=90, response rate c.33%). This communication presents a first descriptive analysis of information utilisation, individual instrumental learning and their conditions and uses descriptive statistics and linear regression to look at the associations between them. The results will contribute to theoretical developments in the fields of policy advice and policy learning. Keywords:
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Citations
Squevin, P. L. D., & Aubin, D. (2019). Learning in policy formulation: Ministerial advisers’ information utilisation and instrumental learning in Francophone Belgium. 13th ECPR General Conference, Wroclaw. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/64398