Policy is something related to actions or decisions, but the question is on what basis is this policy designed? It should be noted that in a modern governed society other actors and perspectives are involved in the process. This means that more resources can actually be used and considered in designing policies to effectively achieve the common outcome. It is then that knowledge and evidence help bring these perspectives together. The evidence-based movement in modern public policy is therefore the latest iteration of the search for usable and relevant knowledge to help address and solve problems (Head 2008: 2). Moreover, without evidence, policymakers must rely on intuition, ideology, or conventional wisdom – or, at best, theory alone (Banks 2009: 3). Therefore, the existence of knowledge and evidence must be taken into account when designing a targeted policy. This essay will reflect on the knowledge and evidence used in e-cigarette legislation in Indonesia and what can be improved by using comprehensive knowledge and evidence as an important tool that can shape better policy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayAccording to the Indonesian Excise Law Number 39 (2007), excise tax is imposed on some selected products with special characteristics that the consumption of goods needs to be controlled, the distribution of goods must be monitored , the use of certain goods can have a negative impact on society and the environment and an income instrument must be implemented in the name of balance and justice. A tobacco product is classified as one of the selected products that must be levied with excise taxes and the expansion of other forms of tobacco production, through technological improvement or market preference, is also included, as the electronic cigarette. E-cigarettes, the most common form of electronic nicotine delivery (ENDS), are devices that do not burn or use tobacco leaves, but rather vaporize a solution that the user then inhales (WHO 2017) . The process by which e-cigarette should be regulated in Indonesia originated from a historical approach to the development of e-cigarette over a period of time. The study included the origin of the creation of the e-cigarette, the extent to which its form has transformed over time, and the comparison of the status of legislation in most countries (IndonesianDGCE 2017). Not to be outdone, the government has also thought about the chemical components contained in the product. According to research conducted by the Indonesian Customs Laboratory in 2017, it appears that electronic cigarettes contain dangerous and toxic substances that can cause health problems for the user. The research also conducted comparative studies on countries that legalize, including the implementation of policy instruments, or completely ban the consumption of e-cigarettes. On the one hand, it is assumed that it provides a potential alternative to help reduce the tendency to smoke. On the other hand, negative aspects play more of a role in considerations to restrict consumption, such as the possibility of violating the no-smoking area policy or inviting new young smokers or even creating a double smoker. use. The voices ofStakeholders must also be taken into account to have a broader vision. This is why a meeting took place in 2017 to gather the views of industrial stakeholders on the future policy. As a result, the e-cigarette is subject to a 57% excise tax based on the government's retail price. In summary, in order to design a policy instrument regarding e-cigarette legislation in Indonesia, the government has already taken into account knowledge and provided evidence from multiple studies and contexts, from historical study to comparative study, from medical to ideological consideration, from professional knowledge to stakeholders, as well as from the regulatory approach. However, I personally think that there are still some gaps in the design of this policy. First of all, the government remains the crucial actor in the public policy process along with other political elites. In a more special sense, there are three important types of knowledge that are particularly important for politics, one of which is political knowledge, the focus of which is know-how, analysis and judgment of the political actor which include several essential elements relevant to the evidence: policy-based policy – ​​such as reviewing and adjusting strategies or tactics; undertake agenda setting; determine priorities; undertake persuasion and advocacy efforts; communicate key messages and ideological ideas; and so on (Head 2008: 5). This is the first thing I realize is missing for this particular policy, the attribute of political knowledge. This is seen in the case where the government prioritizes the results it wants to achieve, whether it is collecting revenue or protecting society from harmful goods, especially tobacco products. If the objective is to control the consumption of tobacco products, why put in place a maximum amount of excise duties on electronic cigarettes while the excise duties on more conventional forms of tobacco products remain lower. This may lead to questions about whether the government's preference is to maintain the habit of smoking or to protect the conventional tobacco industry while disadvantaging the other. Additionally, this contradicts what they raised in the research, namely the belief that e-cigarettes can help change the smoking habit. The role of ENDS in reducing or exacerbating tobacco product-related morbidity and mortality at the population level is said to remain hotly contested (Meernik et al. 2017). Therefore, the agenda remains unclear. The next thing to note in this particular case is that although the policy maker has provided a lot of information relating to e-cigarettes, there is, I believe, a missing link in the data offered, namely the statistical data. analysis that correlates the link between the habit of smoking conventional tobacco products and the trend of electronic cigarettes over a given period. This piece of information can help deepen thinking about the options the government should choose from. Will the trend show a significant increase in the e-cigarette smoking habit while showing a downward trend in the older form of tobacco smoking habit, so the possible proposition would be to allow the consumption of electronic cigarettes? Or will the graph show an increasing trend in the number of new smokers while the number of conventional tobacco smokers continues to increase as well, which could.