ABSTRACT
Evidence-based policymaking involves facilitating the 'transparent and balanced use of evidence in public policy making'. Saarni and Gylling have cautioned that evidence-based policymaking could become 'politics disguised as science' as policymakers exploit scientific-sounding rhetoric to achieve their political goals. This contemporary drive for evidence-based social policies was partly inspired by the evidence-based medicine movement which also flourished in the 1990s. As Chalmers has written, although certain facets of the movement may need improvement, evidence-based policymaking is still generally superior to intuition-based policymaking or other strategies. Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) is an educational program that endeavors to reduce drug use and other antisocial behavior among children and adolescents. In the US, electronic monitoring was first used in a criminal justice context in the early 1980s and, by 1988, had spread to more than 30 states. Despite a lack of clear evidence supporting the effectiveness of electronic monitoring, these programs like boot camps spread widely throughout US states.
