From The Heritage Foundation and National Affairs:
Government Reform
A Politics of Knowledge
by John O. McGinnis
National Affairs
January 05, 2012
Despite the immense exertions of American government in recent decades, with massive public programs spending huge amounts of money to achieve social ends, we know little about how well such exertions really work and what we should expect of various alternatives. New technologies offer the power to narrow that knowledge gap. We should not overestimate their potential, of course: Politics and policy will always be highly controversial, and competing claims — some far less responsible and well grounded than others — will always continue to fly. Bias, and even outright falsehoods, will always be part of the process. But by employing some of the tools made possible by information technology, policymakers and policy experts can at least alleviate some of our ignorance about what our government does — and thereby help us perform the task of self-government that much better.
URL: www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/a-politics-of-knowledge
Government Reform
A Politics of Knowledge
by John O. McGinnis
National Affairs
January 05, 2012
Despite the immense exertions of American government in recent decades, with massive public programs spending huge amounts of money to achieve social ends, we know little about how well such exertions really work and what we should expect of various alternatives. New technologies offer the power to narrow that knowledge gap. We should not overestimate their potential, of course: Politics and policy will always be highly controversial, and competing claims — some far less responsible and well grounded than others — will always continue to fly. Bias, and even outright falsehoods, will always be part of the process. But by employing some of the tools made possible by information technology, policymakers and policy experts can at least alleviate some of our ignorance about what our government does — and thereby help us perform the task of self-government that much better.
URL: www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/a-politics-of-knowledge
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