The Webs of Belief around ‘Evidence’ in Legislatures: The case of select committees in the UK House of Commons

A wide-ranging literature has explored the relationship between research, knowledge and policy However, legislatures have often been overlooked in this research While some studies have looked at ?who has access?, the literature on how parliaments seek to engage with knowledge claims is particularly scarce This article addresses this gap through a case study of UK select committees By adopting an interpretive lens, the article explores how MPs and officials make sense of evidence in committee settings It finds that legalistic definitions around ?evidence? shape wider beliefs in how to engage with knowledge claims and the practices of undertaking inquiries, and are underpinned by a distinctly political function of knowledge use in politics Beliefs around evidence have significant repercussions and highlight tensions (i) around the authority of committee reports, (ii) between epistemic and democratic claims, and (iii) with respect to who is included and excluded This article is protected by copyright All rights reserved