Policy-making and truthiness: Can existing policy models cope with politicized evidence and willful ignorance in a “post-fact” world?
From “alternative facts” to “fake news,” in recent years the influence of misinformation on
political life has become amplified in unprecedented ways through electronic
communications and social media. While misinformation and spin are age-old tactics in
policy making, and poor information and poorly informed opinion a constant challenge for
policy analysts, both the volume of erroneous evidence and the difficulties encountered in
differentiating subjectively constructed opinion from objectively verified policy inputs have …
political life has become amplified in unprecedented ways through electronic
communications and social media. While misinformation and spin are age-old tactics in
policy making, and poor information and poorly informed opinion a constant challenge for
policy analysts, both the volume of erroneous evidence and the difficulties encountered in
differentiating subjectively constructed opinion from objectively verified policy inputs have …