Pathologies of Policy Learning: What Are They and How Do They Contribute to Policy Failure? (chapter)
Dunlop, CA
Date: 15 January 2020
Publisher
Policy Press
Abstract
We analyse policy failure as a degeneration of policy learning. Analytically, we drill down on
one type – epistemic learning. This is the realm of evidenced-based policymaking (EBPM),
where experts advise decision-makers on issues of technical complexity. Empirically, we
present the management of bovine tuberculosis (BTB) in England ...
We analyse policy failure as a degeneration of policy learning. Analytically, we drill down on
one type – epistemic learning. This is the realm of evidenced-based policymaking (EBPM),
where experts advise decision-makers on issues of technical complexity. Empirically, we
present the management of bovine tuberculosis (BTB) in England since 1997 as a failure of
epistemic learning. Drawing on elite interviews and documentary analysis, weaknesses in
government’s management of its relationship with an epistemic community are analysed as
problems of learning about different aspects of organisational capacity. We conclude
discussing the value of learning theories as conceptual lenses for policy failure.
Social and Political Sciences, Philosophy, and Anthropology
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Item views 0
Full item downloads 0