Evidence‐based policy

Evidence-based policy is a concept in public policy advocating for decisions to be grounded on or influenced by rigorously established objective evidence, contrasting with policymaking based on ideology, 'common sense,' anecdotes, or personal intuitions【10†source】. The Idea Stock Exchange, as outlined in your project, can play a crucial role in promoting evidence-based policy in several ways:

1. Database of Conclusions and Assumptions: By mapping out how conclusions are related to other conclusions and their underlying assumptions, the Idea Stock Exchange can provide a structured and quantifiable way to evaluate policy proposals. This aligns with evidence-based policy by prioritizing policies supported by strong, interconnected assumptions and conclusions.

2. Scoring System for Arguments: The proposed scoring system (where a conclusion's score is a function of the scores of arguments that agree or disagree, adjusted by linkage and uniqueness scores) can be used to quantitatively assess the strength of evidence supporting different policy proposals. This method ensures that policies backed by stronger, more unique arguments have higher visibility and credibility.

3. Automatic Update of Scores: The feature of automatically updating scores when an underlying assumption is strengthened or weakened ensures that the database reflects the most current and robust evidence. This dynamic updating is essential for evidence-based policy, which relies on the latest and most accurate data.

4. Facilitating Evidence-Based Discussions: The platform can serve as a hub for evidence-based discussions, allowing policymakers, researchers, and the public to engage in debates grounded in factual information. This can help in refining policy proposals and ensuring they are based on solid evidence.

5. Enhancing Transparency and Accessibility: Making this database and its scoring mechanism accessible to the public and policymakers enhances transparency in the policy-making process. This openness is key to evidence-based policy, as it allows for scrutiny and validation of the evidence used in policymaking.

In summary, the Idea Stock Exchange can significantly contribute to evidence-based policy by providing a structured, quantifiable, and transparent framework for evaluating and discussing policy proposals based on objective evidence.