How do civil society organisations (CSOs) use evidence to influence policy? Can evidence improve the legitimacy and effectiveness of CSOs? This literature review by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) synthesises the literature on the use of evidence in policy-making and that on CSOs in international development. Taking policy processes as the starting point, it looks at how CSOs contribute and use evidence in agenda setting, policy formulation, implementation and evaluation. It argues that CSOs need to better understand the different issues that matter at each distinct stage of a policy process if they are to maximize their impact.
That discussions of civil society have been receiving increasing emphasis over the last decade is not surprising given the unprecedented growth in this sector. Development NGOs, for example, have an annual global budget of around 5.5 billion dollars and have therefore attracted increasing policy and research attention.
There has been a great deal of literature on civil society in international development over the last decade. However, there is little systematic work on the ways CSOs use (or abuse or ignore) evidence in attempts to influence policy processes. At different stages in the policy process, the way CSOs use evidence tends to be important in different ways:
- CSOs may use evidence to build momentum behind an idea to influence agenda setting. A key factor is the way evidence is communicated.
- Evidence can be an important way to establish the credibility of CSOs and therefore influence the formulation of policy.
- Evidence is critical to improving the effectiveness of development initiatives and therefore to influencing the implementation of policy. Making such evidence relevant across different contexts is vital.
- In attempting to influence the monitoring and evaluation of policy, it is important to manage and present evidence clearly.
Political context is critical if CSOs are to influence policy effectively. Evidence must be relevant, appropriate and timely, in a specific social, political and economic context. There are seven ways in which CSOs could use evidence to maximize their effectiveness in changing policy:
- Legitimacy: better use of evidence can enhance a CSOs legitimacy and policy influence.
- Effectiveness: Gathering or using evidence can improve the impact of CSO advocacy and make CSO’s own work more effective.
- Integration: CSOs can have greater influence if they turn their practical knowledge and expertise into evidence that can be used to inform other parts of the policy process (agenda setting, formulation and evaluation).
- Voice: CSOs should find better ways to turn people’s understanding into legitimate evidence and to combine community wisdom with expert evidence.
- Access: Using high-quality evidence can help CSOs gain vital access to policy arenas where key issues are discussed and decided.
- Credibility: Evidence must be valid, reliable and convincing to its audience.
- Communication: Evidence must be presented in an accessible and meaningful way. The most effective communication is two-way, interactive and ongoing.
