(ii) Decisions taken down the line after a law is enacted can inhibit the proper
operation of the law.
Forces of Irrationality
There are forces operating that oppose a rational study of proposed laws. One
force concerns political pressure, while the other is the myth of efficacy.
Political Pressures
Policy can be shaped by the play of “social and political forces as manifested
in and through
institutions and processes”.
505
In the result according to Ellen
Beerworth “purely scientific evidence rarely enters into, or indeed survives, the
power play which accompanies the formulation of highly controversial
legislation in democratic societies”.
506
This is how social forces “will
overwhelm socio-legal or other scientific evidence” when new legal policies are
formulated”.
507
For example, politicians fear "that with real evidence, voters
might discover that reality does not match political rhetoric”.
508
This happens because policy is not made in a vacuum. Instead, policies can
“emerge from a maelstrom of political energy, vested interests and
lobbying”.
509
Commonly, those who push their own special interests will seek
to make them appear legitimate by trying “to align their demands with the
public interest”.
510
One way to do this is to use evidence selectively rather than
comprehensively. Consequently instead of evidence based policy the bias
leads to policy based evidence. But even without this chicanery,
bad policy
can be publicly accepted because uninformed voters “often feels intuitively
supportive” of government proposals.
511
In principle, there is an antidote to this problem. Open the process to public
scrutiny so that the public can see the evidence and hear
the arguments. By
knowing the truth, the public is less likely to be mislead by arguments based
on selective or scanty evidence propounded by sectional interests. This
process would “enfranchise those who would bear the costs of implementing”
the resulting policies.
512
___________________
505
Simeon (1976) p 566
506
Beerworth (1980) p 68
507
Beerworth (1980) p 70
508
Leigh (2003)
509
Banks (2009) p 7
510
Banks (2009) p 7
511
Banks (2009) p 7
512
Banks (2009) p 7
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