Public support for science might worsen policy

Evidence-based policy has become the gold standard for trustworthy governance, yet the relationship between trust and trustworthiness in science-policy interactions is more complex than commonly assumed. This letter argues that increased public trust in science may undermine policy quality because of policy-based evidence-making–the selective use of scientific evidence to justify predetermined political decisions. Drawing on political science literature and Britain’s experience with evidence-based policy, it is argued that high trust allows policymakers to obscure necessary value judgements behind scientific authority. Efforts to increase trust in science, such as the National Academy of Sciences Sri Lanka’s recent initiative to restore trust in science, must therefore consider these perverse incentives to avoid inadvertently compromising evidence-informed policymaking.