Political-Knowledge Regimes: Building a New Concept from Selected Policy-Change Events in the Tabaré Vázquez Administration (Uruguay, 2005–2009)

Abstract

Abstract In recent years authors have paid increasing attention to the study of contextual factors that shape the use of research into a country’s public policies. One of the most significant recent contributions to this body of literature is Campbell and Pedersen’s concept of Knowledge Regimes, which focuses on the central characteristics of the relevant social research in a given country. This article is a critique of this concept based on the study of three key policy-change events during the Tabaré Vázquez administration in Uruguay. In order to explain the dynamics of social research it is not merely enough to understand the main features of the supply side; it is also necessary to study the demand. This critical perspective has led to the construction of a new concept.