Science for Policymaking

In all societies, public policies are developed to solve social problems such as extreme poverty, inequality, basic sanitation, health and basic care, family planning, food security, mental health, abuse of illegal substances, education, and protection of vulnerable groups. How can we ensure that these public policies are based on solid evidence, which would guarantee the greatest probability of effectiveness? And how do we plan and adapt the implementation of these policies to different realities, respecting cultural and historical differences? In order to achieve this, it is useful, if not necessary, to be acquainted with scientific thinking and the accumulation and use of evidence. It is also necessary to understand our own limitations and cognitive biases that interfere in the decision-making process. This course aims to provide students with the tools necessary to assess public policies critically and rationally, as well as to evaluate different types of scientific evidence and understand how and where it is appropriate to include scientific evidence in building effective public policy.