The Holberg Laureate LIVE 2018: “Knowledge-based Policy-Making” with Cass Sunstein

Holberg Laureate Cass Sunstein in conversation with Research Director Anine Kierulf and Professor Cathrine Holst about expertise and policy making, at the House of Literature in Oslo, June 7, 2018. Public policy making draws its legitimacy from the people, but also from being based on correct factual assumptions. This requires knowledgeable policy makers. Fact finding and science affect how successful policies are in reaching their goals, and in avoiding negative side effects. The information-gathering advantages of the executive branch also affect the constitutional power balance – the more insightful its knowledge-based decision making is, the more reason for other branches to defer to it. But how to choose what knowledge to look for, and what expertise to emphasize more? And how relevant is political tradition to these choices? Cass R. Sunstein is the 2018 Holberg Laureate. He is currently the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard University. Cathrine Holst is Professor at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography and Research Professor at ARENA Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo. Anine Kierulf is Research Director at the Norwegian National Human Rights Institution. She previously worked as a lawyer and a judge, and as research fellow at the University of Oslo School of Law.