The Use Of Social Science Research By Local Government Decision-Makers In China

Since the end of the 20 th century,the idea of Evidence-based Policy Making has gradually developed into a policy decision theory in which countries make public policies scientifically.In the field of public policy,evidence-based policy making aims to introduce scientific research evidence into public policy making to improve the scientific nature of public decision-making and the quality of public policy.All the time,Chinese governments at all levels attach great importance to scientific decision making and policy making,but do decision-makers,especially those in prefecture-level city governments,strictly follow the "evidence-based" decision-making thinking in their actual decision-making or policy making process? Is the research evidence represented by social science research used to improve the level of policy making? How much is it used? All these questions need to be explored.This paper selects G City of Sichuan Province as a case study,uses the method of questionnaire survey and in-depth interview to conduct a questionnaire survey among 306 leading cadres of the Party and government at or above the section level in G City,and conducts in-depth interviews with 13 of them.It explores the situation and influencing factors of social science research used by local government decision-makers in China.According to the empirical results,the following conclusions can be drawn: Firstly,in terms of the utilization status of social science research,government decision-makers in G city "sometimes" use social science research,which is of great value to decision-makers,and it mainly plays the role of "conceptual influence" as the auxiliary basis for policy decision-making.Secondly,in view of the factors that affect the government decision makers use social science research,the research of targeted,the quality of research,decision-makers’ willingness,evidence-based capability,decision-makers’ working years,job level,background and the interaction between decision-makers and researchers strength significantly affects the utilization degree of social science research.However,the adaptability of research has no significant impact on the utilization of social science research.Finally,based on G government decision-makers’ utilization degree and influence factors of social science research,we can promote the use of social science research by improving the level of research supply,enhancing decision-makers’ awareness and ability of evidence,building a positive interaction between researchers and decision-makers,and implementing targeted promotion to key groups.This not only helps to deepen the rational understanding of the use of social science research in local government decision-making,but also provides beneficial enlightenment for promoting the use of social science research by local government decision-makers in China.