Forskning for politikk: Om uavhengighet i direktoratsektoren

This chapter analyzes the establishment of ecosystem-based petroleum management in Norway since 2001. Based on interviews with researchers involved in the processes and document analysis, it is argued that research has a much less autonomous role for policy development than the public debate presupposes. Rather than being a scientific corrective to policy, research is deeply intertwined with political decision-making and management processes. This is often the case when research is to inform policymakers. What is particular in this case, is the organization of research. The core research institutions are themselves hybrids, as the boundary between science and policy is drawn within these institutions. This way of organizing research is resource-effective, flexible and secure policy-relevant knowledge creation. However, it also reduces researchers’ autonomy, it puts limits on when and how they choose to participate in public debates, and it can create a false impression of knowledge consensus. The prevailing organization of research makes it easier to define policy decisions as “knowledge-based”, but at the same time potentially limits the quality of knowledge available to the public. Rather than asking for “purer” knowledge production, we need to discuss the consequences of different ways of organizing policy-relevant knowledge creation.