Linking Decision Roles to Knowledge Utilization in US State Governments: A Mixed‐Method Study

ABSTRACT The current movement for evidence‐based policymaking advocates the use of scientific knowledge in government. However, in practice, civil servants often prioritize different types of knowledge depending on their decision‐making roles and the context. Using survey responses from 259 civil servants across three US state governments and 36 semistructured interviews, we employ a mixed‐method approach to understand how civil servants strategically utilize various types of knowledge to meet different role requirements and decision‐making responsibilities. Consistent with our hypotheses, our findings indicate that civil servants involved in policy and legislative roles value political knowledge more, while those in contracting roles place greater importance on experiential knowledge. Contrary to our hypothesis, while civil servants in budgeting roles value political knowledge more than their counterparts in other decision roles, they show no such preference for scientific knowledge. Our qualitative interviews provide possible mechanisms for this unexpected finding.