The Blind Spots of Public Bureaucracy and the Politics of Non‐Coordination

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

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2. Conceptual Foundations

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Blind Spots, Biased Attention, and the Politics of Non-coordination

      • Tobias Bach, Kai Wegrich

      Pages 3-28

   3. Accounting for Blind Spots

      • Martin Lodge

      Pages 29-48

   4. Blind Spots: Organizational and Institutional Biases in Intra- and Inter-organizational Contexts

      • Tom Christensen

      Pages 49-67

3. Blind Spots and Attention Bias

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 69-69

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   2. Professional Integrity and Leadership in Public Administration

      • Wolfgang Seibel

      Pages 71-86

   3. The Alarms That Were Sent, but Never Received: Attention Bias in a Novel Setting

      • Helge Renå

      Pages 87-109

4. Bureaucratic Politics: Reputation, Blame, and Turf

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 111-111

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   2. Why Cooperation Between Agencies is (Sometimes) Possible: Turf Protection as Enabler of Regulatory Cooperation in the European Union

      • Eva Heims

      Pages 113-131

   3. Blame, Reputation, and Organizational Responses to a Politicized Climate

      • Markus Hinterleitner, Fritz Sager

      Pages 133-150

   4. Passing the Buck? How Risk Behaviours Shape Collaborative Innovation

      • Krista Timeus

      Pages 151-170

   5. Media and Bureaucratic Reputation: Exploring Media Biases in the Coverage of Public Agencies

      • Jan Boon, Heidi Houlberg Salomonsen, Koen Verhoest, Mette Østergaard Pedersen

      Pages 171-192

5. Achilles’ Heels and Selective Perception

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 193-193

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   2. Central Banks and Banking Regulation: Historical Legacies and Institutional Challenges

      • Jacint Jordana, Guillermo Rosas

      Pages 195-216

   3. Why Do Bureaucrats Consider Public Consultation Statements (or Not)? Information Processing in Public Organizations

      • Simon Fink, Eva Ruffing

      Pages 217-238

6. Implications

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 239-239

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   2. How to Deal with the Blind Spots of Public Bureaucracies

      • Tobias Bach, Kai Wegrich

      Pages 241-261

7. Back Matter

   Pages 263-269

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How to better coordinate policies and public services across public sector organizations has been a major topic of public administration research for decades. However, few attempts have been made to connect these concerns with the growing body of research on biases and blind spots in decision-making. This book attempts to make that connection. It explores how day-to-day decision-making in public sector organizations is subject to different types of organizational attention biases that may lead to a variety of coordination problems in and between organizations, and sometimes also to major blunders and disasters. The contributions address those biases and their effects for various types of public organizations in different policy sectors and national contexts. In particular, it elaborates on blind spots, or ‘not seeing the not seeing’, and different forms of bureaucratic politics as theoretical explanations for seemingly irrational organizational behaviour. The book’s theoretical tools and empirical insights address conditions for effective coordination and problem-solving by public bureaucracies using an organizational perspective.

• bounded rationality
• organization theory
• coordination
• selective perception
• bureaucratic politics
• public sector organizations
• unintended consequences
• administrative limits
• executive government
• organization of bias
• attention bias
• complexity
• hybridity
• path dependency
• myths and symbols
• administrative leadership
• professional integrity
• goal attainment
• system maintenance
• european union politics

“This volume sheds fresh light on the shortcomings of the evergreen phantasm of synoptic rationality in and across public organizations that still inform expectations to public decision makers. The book is a valuable reminder that in times of information overload, critical awareness of the perspective through which both knowledge, action and analysis are conceived is more important than ever.” (Lotte Jensen, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark)

“This book is a treasure trove for those interested in getting fresh, intelligent, and thought provoking accounts of some of the most important recurrent and debilitating pathologies of public administration: attention biases, blind spots, and a chronic failure to operate in a collaborative and coordinated fashion. Leading scholars cast fresh eyes on classic and emerging frameworkssuch as bureaucratic reputation, collaborative governance and institutional leadership. These highly readable essays also offer us glimmers of hope that if we better understand these mechanisms, we can make them work for rather than against the smart and reliable government that citizens expect and deserve.” (Paul ‘t Hart, Utrecht University, The Netherlands)

• Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

  Tobias Bach

• Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, Germany

  Kai Wegrich

Tobias Bach is Associate Professor of Public Policy and Administration at the Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Norway.

Kai Wegrich is Professor of Public Administration and Public Policy at the Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, Germany.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

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