Abstract
Improving the quality of public policy-making is a matter of great importance for nearly everyone. Significant improvements, however, require major (and unlikely?) changes in the epistemological foundations accepted by social inquirers—changes that make possible a conception of “policy” that can be used to achieve real world purposes reliably. A theory of knowledge adequate for that purpose is outlined, and some of its major implications for inquiry (and for policy-making) are explored very briefly.
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Most of his work has been concerned with developing, and applying, a theory of knowledge that is adequate for policy-making purposes.
This article was adapted from a paper prepared for the Wisconsin Seminar on Natural Resource Policies in Relation to Economic Development and International Cooperation, Madison, Wisconsin. 1978.
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Meehan, E.J. The outlook for policy-making: An epistemological perspective. Know Techn Pol 6, 54–69 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02825981
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02825981