Pictures of welfare policies – political governance in the digital era

In this project, the use of comparisons and data visualisations as methods of governance are studied from two complementary approaches. First, by analysing how numerical data is visualised, categorised and labelled, the so-called policy of pictures is studied. Second, the research seeks to answer whether the abundance of evidence and unlimited possibilities to compare enabled by digitalisation have changed the rules of policy-making and, if they have, how have they changed? How are pictures, diagrams and visual numbers used in the making of policy? The data consist of national policy documents, the webpages of comparative databases, presentations given by civil servants in state administration, and welfare narratives produced by municipalities.