This chapter draws on a 40-year history of patchwork efforts to use data and data analysis to inform the development of public policy and to shape its implementation. The chapter begins with a description of the evolution of the policy process in the United States, drawing largely on experiences within the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Education (DOED), and Labor (DOL). All three agencies have been major supporters of and contributors to advances in the methods of policy analysis and the generation and use of program evaluation to guide decision making. The chapter draws on the roles of these agencies in laying the groundwork for the current emphasis on evidence-based policy making, in part because of their leadership roles and in part because of the author's first-hand experience working with these agencies. The chapter ends with a discussion of the movement over the last decade to create and use credible evidence on the impacts and cost-effectiveness of programs, policies, and practices as the foundation for more efficient and effective government and reflections on the potential implications of the recent change in the administration for the future of that movement.

Evolution of policy development in federal agencies

Serious attention to program evaluation and public policy analysis in the United States dates to the late 1960s as the federal government, under the leadership of President Lyndon B. Johnson committed to the ‘War on Poverty.’ Interest in and commitment to using the power of government to combat poverty and its root causes created an imperative for more and better evidence to understand the social, economic, and education needs of society. President Johnson's commitment in 1964 was ‘… not only to relieve the symptoms of poverty, but to cure it and, above all, to prevent it’ (Johnson 1964).

The War on Poverty included policies aimed at three areas of concern: (1) economic security and health care for the elderly, disabled, and poor; (2) economic opportunity through employment for all; and (3) equity in educational opportunity (Matthews 2014). These commitments were underscored by four major legislative actions that, together, resulted in unprecedented levels of public investment in the health and welfare of American society flowing from legislative actions (Johnson 1964).