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The Received Wisdom

The Received Wisdom

Opening up expert advice

Authors:
Alan Irwin, Kevin Jones, Jack Stilgoe,
Publication Type:
Pamphlet
Publication Date:
8th December 2006
ISBN:
1 84180170 4
Cost:
£10.00

The modern world needs experts. They are everywhere. In government, we are told that they are a resource – ‘on tap, not on top.’ But experience over the last 20 years, from BSE to MMR and beyond, has punctured the old, ‘speaking truth to power,’ model of expertise. The policy response to BSE has been to open up. But are we making the most of openness?

We know that experts can no longer rely upon public deference, but the problem goes deeper than trust. Rebuilding expert advice for the 21st century means looking at what counts as knowledge. Opening-up needs to mean more than showing people how expert advice works. Opening-up needs to mean open-mindedness, it needs to mean asking new questions and it needs to mean listening to a much wider range of perspectives.

Expertise is about more than evidence. It is also about judgement and wisdom. Our argument is not that we should reject the received wisdom in favour of the wisdom of crowds. But we need to go beyond a simple model of ‘evidence-based policy.’ Drawing on recent case studies and research with ‘lay members’ of expert committees, this pamphlet looks to a new model of expertise which is more diverse, takes better account of uncertainty, is aware of its context and trusts the public.

via Experts Healthy Conversations

Comments

1

In the context of formulating policy, is the pursuit of openness and truth compatible with the financial constraints within government?  For example, could a government ever be seen to say 'yes this treatment works but we can't afford it',  or 'milk from herds under  TB restriction should be discarded'? 

It is suspicions of this nature which lead to a lack of trust, plus, of course, the feeling that 'he who pays the piper calls the tune' 

Can any 'science' in this Country be considered to be morally safe, and, if so, how can this be demonstrated?  And surely this is more relevant if  'judgement and wisdom' are to be trusted? 

Lay members of committees might help with the issue of trust but they would need enough knowledge to ask the right questions.

Posted by Val Collinson  at 2:57pm on Tuesday, 16th January 2007
2
Val, you've hit upon a really interesting question. For me, the clearest example of these tensions is NICE, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Their codified expertise is not just medical, but also economic, in terms of measuring costs and benefits.

Similar arguments took place over foot and mouth. Costs (risks) and benefits were not just scientific, but also economic (what will this course of action cost?) and social (how acceptable will this be?)
Posted by Jack Stilgoe  at 4:11pm on Tuesday, 16th January 2007

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