6 - The Expectation of Competence

Summary

This chapter addresses, as a second component of the proposed framework, the second constituent expectation of trust in the citizen-government relationship: competence. It defines the expectation as an expectation of evidence-based policy-making (EBPM) from the elected branches in their exercise of control over social goods and services. Drawing on scholarship on EBPM, it argues that EBPM consists of three forms of knowledge: knowledge from scientific research, ‘political knowledge’ and ‘practical implementation knowledge’. The chapter also details how the courts can enforce the expectation. It explains that for this component, the courts incorporate EBPM into social rights enforcement. More specifically, the courts require the elected branches to provide evidence demonstrating that their decision-making vis-a-vis social goods and services is evidence based. The chapter offers illustrations from various jurisdictions, including Germany, South Africa, the UK and Latvia.