Understanding political learning by scientific experts: a case of EU climate policy

ABSTRACT

Research often explores the role of scientific expertise in policymaking from an externalised perspective, mostly focusing on how policymakers use and abuse scientific expertise through political learning. However, very little is known about political learning by scientific experts. What strategies do they use to maintain and advance their access to, and influence on policymaking? Using process tracing, we illustrate how scientific experts’ access to policymaking is challenged as a policy issue develops. We explore how this nudges scientific experts to engage in political learning and employ political advocacy strategies to enhance science’s role in policy making, corresponding to evolving political opportunity structures. We empirically trace this using the case of EU climate policy development between 1990 and 2022. We identify three main sets of advocacy strategies used by scientific experts: Narrative and semantic (policy issue-oriented), Socialisation (Actors-oriented), and Governance (systems and structures-oriented). In doing so, this article illustrates the political actorness and agency of scientific experts and provides a supplementary understanding to the role of science in public policy and policy change, not only as a function of policymaker’s instrumentalization of science, but also as a function of how scientific experts actively advocate for science’s role in public policy.

KEYWORDS:

• Policy learning
• epistemic policy learning
• climate policy
• European green deal
• scientific experts

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to sincerely thank Prof. Neveen Saied, from Vlerick Business School, Belgium for her insights on boundary work. We would like to sincerely thank our three anonymous reviewers and the journal editors for their very constructive and supportive comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 In this article, we use experts to indicate ‘scientific experts’ unless otherwise stated.

2 This is regardless of the quality of the new entrants learning about the policy problem.

3 Ethnographic (participatory) observations were used as a supplementary channel for data collection, particularly concerning recent developments in EU Climate policy.

4 INT: Interview data.

5 Time periods are indicative.

6 ETN: Ethnographic observations of meeting and proceedings.

7 The Board began its operations in 2022, just as our data analysis for this project was ending, meaning that it does not feature in our analysis, and neither is it referenced in our interview data.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bishoy L. Zaki

Dr Bishoy L. Zaki is a Visiting Professor of Public Policy and Public Administration at the department of Public Governance and Management, Ghent University, Belgium.

Claire Dupont

Dr Claire Dupont is an Associate Professor of European Governance at the Department of Public Governance and Management, Ghent University, Belgium.