10 research outputs found
Bringing the politics back in: public value in Westminster parliamentary government
We challenge the usefulness of the āpublic valueā approach in Westminster systems with their dominant hierarchies of control, strong roles for ministers, and tight authorizing regimes underpinned by disciplined two-party systems. We identify two key confusions: about public value as theory, and in defining who are āpublic managersā. We identify five linked core assumptions in public value: the benign view of large-scale organizations; the primacy of management; the relevance of private sector experience; the downgrading of party politics; and public servants as platonic guardians. We identify two key dilemmas around the āprimacy of party politicsā and the notion that public managers should play the role of platonic guardians deciding the public interest. We illustrate our argument with short case studies of: the David Kelly story from the UK; the āchildren overboardā scandal in Australia; the āmad cow diseaseā outbreak in the UK; the Yorkshire health authority's ātea-partiesā, and the Cave Creek disaster in New Zealand
Convincing a sceptical public : the challenge of public health
202104 bcvcNot applicableSelf-fundedPublished24 month
How Can We Measure the Success of National Science Policies in the Short or Medium Term?
What we Never have, we Never Miss? Decision Error and the Risks of Premature Termination
Mobile phones and service stations: Rumour, risk and precaution
This paper considers the implications of precautionary restrictions against technologies, in the context of the potential for creating and sustaining rumours. It focuses on the restriction against mobile phone use at petrol stations, based on the rumour that a spark might cause an explosion. Rumours have been substantiated by precautionary usage warnings from mobile phone manufacturers, petrol station usage restrictions, and a general lack of technical understanding. Petrol station employees have themselves spread the rumour about alleged incidents, filling the information gap about the basis for the restriction