Policy Advice and Capacity

Abstract

Policy advice is understood as the production of knowledge about public policy problems and how those can be ameliorated. Policy advice, however, is intricately linked with the capacity or the skills and competencies of public actors. This chapter focusses on the relationship between policy advice and capacity. The chapter advances two arguments. First, effective policy advice requires a range of capacities - analytical, operational, and political - to understand problems and how they can be addressed. Second, policy advice must recognise the constraints of the capacity of public actors. Put differently, no amount of expertise or policy knowledge of problems and solutions matter if there are deficiencies on the part of the public actor to operationalise that advice. © The Editors and Contributors Severally 2025.