ABSTRACT
This chapter encapsulates current thinking on the kinds of tools that can be deployed in order to enhance learning and evidence use in a policy-making context. It starts with an overview of the key concepts before introducing contemporary theories on policy learning that utilize them. The notion “policy capacity” can be used to conceptualise this interplay of analytical, managerial and political knowledge and skills of individuals engaged in the policy process, such as the public officials evaluating a policy design, and organisational and system level capacities, such as effective inter- and intra-organisational communication. Policy subsystems form at earlier stages of the policy cycle and constitute the context in which individuals acquire, make sense of and disseminate information at the policy evaluation stage.
