The role of expert reporting in binding together policy problem and solution definition processes
Le rôle de rapportage des experts dans l'association des problèmes publics aux processus de définition de solutions
Résumé
The objective of this contribution is to shed light on the role of expert reporting in the framing of policy solutions. Questioning the way expert assessments are being used to weigh on the policy-making process, and more particularly in the design of specific policy solutions, we use the concept of “common categorization”. The concept posits that the production of a common category between the sphere of scientific assessment and the sphere of public problems represents a critical achievement in the assertion of both expertise and particular policy solutions. In that sense, the concept talks to the idea of “coupling” mentioned by Kingdon. Kingdon evokes such a process as the alignment of the three streams of policy, problem and politics. In contrast, here we explore coupling activities that link knowledge production with the definition process of policy solutions. In addition, coupling, for Kingdon, takes place when a window of opportunity opens up. With the concept of “common categorization” we argue that there is no “accidental” coupling and that actors (policy entrepreneurs, policy outsiders, experts, policy-makers etc) are actually actively involved in craftily designing matching categories. In a bid to better grasp the conditions under which some coupling (or common categorization) proposals successfully manage to influence the policy-making process and other do not, we compare three contrasted cases displaying competing couplings (or categorizations). Indeed, we selected three cases with disputed expert assessments, originating from different groups and/or ordered by different actors: green macroalgal blooms on Breton beaches; the biotic index in the case of French river pollution; and the dead wood indicator in the case of forest biodiversity.
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