The concept has been increasingly used to shape public regulatory action, but is more often a description of ‘common’ practice than ‘best’, and often releases parties from actually doing the research work required to come up with what is actually the best practice in a given situation, each different from the other.
This article discusses that:
“But best practices usually fall short of that ideal [voluntary democratic formulation of what works best]. They are not a panacea, not always horizontal, and often, at least in effect, not really voluntary. In short, although best practices purport to be “best” there is nothing particularly “best” about them. The rulemaking technique is a way of obtaining common practices, not ideal ones. There are, accordingly, some contexts in which best practices may be appropriate and effective forms of regulation, and other contexts where they are not.” (p. 298)
