The Covid-19 crisis put the question of evidence-based policy-making in times of crisis at the top of the political agenda. This projects aims at understanding what systems of scientific policy advice are best suited to foster the transfer of policy-relevant knowledge from science to politics in times of acute crisis. The main hypothesis states that countries with policy advisory systems that are more strongly designed to use expertise (i.e., person bound knowledge based on long-term experience) are better placed to incorporate scientific knowledge into their decisions in times of acute crisis than countries with policy advisory systems that rely primarily on evidence (i.e., research-based information generated through systematic, scientific procedures). The project employs a comparative qualitative case study design to discuss its hypothesis. Case selection follows a most different-systems logic. Data stem from standardized media analysis, document analysis, expert interviews, and secondary data.
