Category Archives: Evidence

Social Innovation News Feed

Need to stay up to date on social innovation developments but feel overwhelmed by information overload? Consider subscribing to SIRC’s curated Twitter feed. Our Twitter feed tracks major developments and new reports on all the topics covered by SIRC’s blog, … Continue reading

Posted in Evidence, Performance Management, Social Impact Bonds / Pay for Success, Social Innovation Fund

New Brookings Book Provides Insights on Obama Evidence and Innovation Agenda

The Brookings Institution today released a new book detailing the development of six major Obama administration innovation initiatives — the Social Innovation Fund, Investing in Innovation (i3) program, Workforce Innovation Fund, Teen Pregnancy Prevention program, home visiting (MIECHV), and Trade … Continue reading

Posted in Evidence

Congress May Enact Evidence Commission Bill in Lame Duck Session

The chairs of the House and Senate Budget Committees, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), introduced bipartisan legislation November 20 that would create a new Commission on Evidenced-based Policymaking. If enacted, the commission would submit a report … Continue reading

Posted in Evidence, Government Performance

Is There a Bipartisan Evidence Agenda?

With control of Congress and the White House split between Republicans and Democrats, there may be little reason to think much will be accomplished in Washington between now and the 2016 elections. But a new book from Results for America … Continue reading

Posted in Evidence, Politics

The Evidence Debate

As the Obama administration’s evidence agenda rolls forward it is beginning to stir countervailing views on the appropriate use of evidence. What counts as evidence in the field of social policy? How should it be used? How will the challenges … Continue reading

Posted in Evidence

That’s Just Wrong: Celebrity Gossip, Fad Diets, and Evidence-based Practices

In my last column (Ducks, Data, and Evidence-based Politics), I wrote about how central evidence of results will be for nonprofits that want to survive the new era of permanently tight budgets. Much of this evidence, of course, comes from … Continue reading

Posted in Evidence

Book Review: The Power of Being Right

“Facts are stubborn things.” It’s a quote variably attributed to Mark Twain, John Adams, and the French novelist Alain-Rene Lesage (if Wikipedia serves me). Whatever its origins, it is an apt phrase to describe the theme of Henry Waxman’s new … Continue reading

Posted in Evidence, Politics

Book Review: So … Lobbying Groups Don’t Have Much Influence?

Robert Kaiser’s new book, So Damn Much Money: The Triumph of Lobbying and the Corrosion of American Government, attempts to make the not-so-surprising argument that money and lobbyists dominate Washington, and that we are worse off as a nation because of … Continue reading

Posted in Evidence, Politics

Political Influence: The Importance of Issue Expertise

Influence in Washington is primarily about “what you know” and “who you know.”  The “what you know” piece of this equation is about substantive, issue-based expertise.  Public policy issues are often complex.  What is the problem being addressed?  What are … Continue reading

Posted in Evidence, Politics