White House Issues Blueprint for Use of Social and Behavioral Science in Policymaking
In May 2024, the White House released a report promoting better use of social and behavioral science research in evidence-based policymaking across the federal government. This document places a long-overdue spotlight on the social and behavioral sciences and their utility in addressing some of the country’s most pressing challenges.
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released the Blueprint for the Use of Social and Behavioral Science to Advance Evidence-Based Policymaking in May. The blueprint is the product of nearly two years of work by social and behavioral science experts from across federal agencies and departments.
The development of a framework for social and behavioral science use in policymaking was first announced in 2022 when the Biden Administration rechartered the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) Subcommittee, an interagency group of social and behavioral science experts tasked with coordinating the social and behavioral sciences research agendas across agencies and departments to contribute to evidence-based policymaking. In addition, the blueprint responds to directives included in the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, President Biden’s Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support of Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government (EO 13985), and the 2021 Presidential Memorandum on Restoring Trust in Government Through Scientific Integrity and Evidence-Based Policymaking.
The document released last month takes a whole-of-government approach to assist agencies and departments with leveraging social and behavioral science insights to improve federal policies, programs, and services to the American people. It makes six recommendations for better incorporating social and behavioral science research into the work of federal agencies:
- Identify policy areas that would benefit from a better understanding and application of human behavior and outcomes.
- Consider potential social and behavioral science insights that affect relevant policy outcomes while identifying the consequences of these insights for policy and program conceptualization, design, and implementation.
- Synthesize available knowledge to identify promising practices with a strong body of evidence for effectiveness.
- Identify the most appropriate ways to translate these insights into action given available policy tools.
- Implement and disseminate policy and program information informed by social and behavioral science-informed approaches.
- Evaluate efforts using the most appropriate social and behavioral science methods and available data.
The report contains a useful summary detailing ways some federal agencies are already taking action in these areas.
As federal agencies work to implement the report’s recommendations, the blueprint urges the following immediate actions:
- Invest in the continued building and strengthening of dynamic and durable evidence ecosystems to support evidence-based policymaking.
- Promote meaningful engagement and partnership by strengthening connections between the federal government, the public, private, and non-profit sectors, and communities.
- Reduce barriers by increasing buy-in for social and behavioral science from senior leadership across the federal government, reducing administrative burdens for social and behavioral science evidence generation, and improving data equity and access.
- Increase capacity for social and behavioral science through increased investment in a social and behavioral science-trained workforce and increased support for interagency efforts dependent on social and behavioral science expertise.
Mandate social and behavioral science-informed strategies through federal funding practices that prioritize proposals that include evidence-based social and behavioral science strategies, support the generation of new evidence to help fill knowledge gaps, and institute rigorous evaluation requirements.
As the report states, “Understanding human behavior through social and behavioral science is vitally important for creating federal policies and programs that open opportunities for everyone.” CISS is grateful that BU is a member of COSSA, which provided us this update. The Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) is a nonprofit advocacy organization working to promote and advance the social and behavioral sciences in federal policymaking.