The DOI matches its Crossref record; 77 of the 77 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The lessons of failure: learning and blame avoidance in public policy-making
Abstract
Recent studies by Hood have underscored the significance of the desire of decision-makers to avoid blame for poor policy initiatives, highlighting the importance to policy-making of learning about how best to avoid policy failure. This article examines several different concepts of policy failure in the literature on the subject, such as policy accidents, errors, mistakes, and anomalies, along with recent work by McConnell and his colleagues on the general types and sources of such failures. The article distinguishes between ‘thin’ (technical-strategic) and ‘thick’ (political-experiential) policy learning and links them to McConnell’s three categories of political, programme, and process failures. The analysis points to the significant and underappreciated roles played by process and political problems in the analysis of policy failure and the need to draw lessons in these areas as well as in more technically oriented programme-related ones if the prospects of policy success are to be enhanced.
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Cites
Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies
Perry, J., & Kingdon, J. W. (1985) · Journal of Policy Analysis and Management · doi:10.2307/3323801 · Cited by 11,225
Agendas, alternatives, and public policies
Kingdon, J. W. (1984) · Cited by 9,299
The Science of “Muddling Through”
Lindblom, C. E. (1959) · Public Administration Review · doi:10.2307/973677 · Cited by 8,513
Policy paradigms, social learning, and the state: The case of economic policymaking in Britain
Hall, P. A. (1993) · Comparative Politics · doi:10.2307/422246 · Cited by 7,369
Agendas and instability in American politics
(1993) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.31-0574 · Cited by 5,981
Normal Accidents: Living with High Risk Technologies
Grimes, A. J., & Perrow, C. (1985) · The Academy of Management Review · doi:10.2307/257982 · Cited by 4,960
Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies
Cummings, L. L., & Perrow, C. (1984) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2392945 · Cited by 2,861
International Social Science Journal
(1963) · Anthropology News · doi:10.1111/an.1963.4.7.6.1 · Cited by 2,703
The Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Social Action
Merton, R. K. (1936) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2084615 · Cited by 2,520
Studying public policy: policy cycles and policy subsystems
(1996) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.33-5970 · Cited by 2,483
Cited by
The Role of Social Determinants of Health in Promoting Health Equality: A Narrative Review
Chelak, K., & Chakole, S. (2023) · Cureus · doi:10.7759/cureus.33425 · Cited by 113
Median Problem Pressure and Policy Learning: An Exploratory Analysis of European Countries
Trein, P. (2018) · International Series on Public Policy · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-76210-4_11 · Cited by 7
Metadata
- Authors
- Howlett, M.
- Venue
- International Political Science Review
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2012-10-24
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 539-555
- ISSN
- 0192-5121 (ISSN-L)
- 1460-373X
- OpenAlex
- W2169552471
- Cited by
- 331
- References
- 77
- FWCI
- 69.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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