Conclusion: Towards Excellence in Research, Learning and Teaching Public Policy

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter establishes and underscores the salience of the central claims of the chapters of the book, the skills and abilities the readings support as part of the research and public policy programmes. It begins by examining the travails of the effort to promote evidence-informed policy making from the 1950s in the build-up to independence, through the period of central planning, fiscal crisis and recession, structural adjustment, and the entrance and proliferation of independent think tanks. It shows that after a lull during the periods of dictatorship and the shrinking of the democratic space, the liberalisation and democratisation process from the 1990s onwards has rekindled consciousness and interest in promoting evidence-informed policy making. African countries have become part of the evidence revolution indicated by the establishment of national policy evaluation systems across the continent. The chapters together constitute essential materials for understanding various aspects and dimensions of policy making in Africa with emphasis on quality research and excellence in both teaching and learning of the graduate programmes in public policy.