Datafication of Public Policy

Abstract

Policies, both good and bad, are the direct products of the data that are taken into consideration when making them. Hence, data quality is of critical importance to bureaucrats and policymakers. However, while this criticality cannot be overemphasized, in actuality, few policymakers are cognizant of or even aware of the data-related problems that plague our administrative structures. In this essay, I look at this issue from various angles using the three books by Drey (1990), Eubanks (2018) and Perez (2019), respectively.