A typology of advisory bodies in legislatures and research perspectives

ABSTRACT

Science advice has received renewed attention for evidence-informed legislation. However, no work has evaluated current trends in the field. We did a systematic review for publications between 2014 and 2020 to develop a typology using the legislative scientific advice body as a unit of analysis. The typology includes 12 categories that provide insights into the contextual background, mandate, structure, and advice process of legislative advisory bodies. We noticed that most of the work focused on advisory units is in western and high-income countries. The bodies show a wide degree of advice practices and politicisation. There are open opportunities for research, such as doing further comparative analyzes. Lastly, we found that foresight and horizon scanning methodologies were increasingly implemented in legislatures for participatory advice and to set long-term priorities. The findings can shed light on advancing legislative scientific advice for researchers and practitioners alike.