'Rationalized incrementalism'. How behavior experts in government negotiate institutional logics

Public policy design takes place in a complex 'policy swamp' that is not easily analyzed, let alone controlled. Nonetheless, recent scientific advances in understanding human behavior have led some to believe there is a way out of this swamp. A 'Behavioural Insights' movement has...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Critical policy studies 2020-04, Vol.14 (2), p.156-173
Main Author: Feitsma, Joram
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior
Behavioral Insights
Dutch government
ethnographic fieldwork
Ethnography
evidence-based policy
Experts
nudge
Policy making
Public policy
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Summary:Public policy design takes place in a complex 'policy swamp' that is not easily analyzed, let alone controlled. Nonetheless, recent scientific advances in understanding human behavior have led some to believe there is a way out of this swamp. A 'Behavioural Insights' movement has emerged, pushing a seemingly neo-rationalist strategy that clashes with the hitherto incrementalist strategy of policy-making. This article investigates how upcoming behavior experts in Dutch government grapple with this clash, based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork. The article points out that these behavior experts, despite their clear-cut rationalist impression, in the backstage take on the challenge of negotiating competing institutional logics.
ISSN:1946-0171
1946-018X
DOI:10.1080/19460171.2018.1557067