by Philipp Trein and Thenia Vagionaki
In our article entitled, “Why policy failure is a prerequisite for innovation in the public sector,” we explore the relationship between policy failure and innovation within public governance. Drawing inspiration from the “Innovator’s Dilemma,”—a theory from the management literature—we argue that the very nature of policymaking, characterized by myopia of voters, blame avoidance by decisionmakers, and the complexity (ill-structuredness) of societal challenges, has an inherent tendency to react with innovation only after failure of existing policies.
Our analysis implies that we need to be more critical of what the policy process can achieve in terms of public sector innovation. Cognitive limitations tend to lead to a misperception of problems and inaccurate assessment of risks by decision makers according to the “Innovator’s Dilemma”. This problem implies that true innovation (non-trivial policy changes) are unlikely to happen before an existing policy has failed visibly. However, our perspective does not want to paint a gloomy picture for public policy making but rather offers a more realistic interpretation of what public sector innovation can achieve. As a consequence, learning from experts in the policy process should be expected to correct failures in public sector problem-solving during the political process, rather than raise expectations beyond what is possible.
The potential impact of our findings is profound. For practitioners and policymakers, this insight offers a new lens through which to evaluate the failure and success of public policies. Our work advocates a paradigm shift in how we perceive, manage, and learn from policy failures in the public sector, and for the expectations we have towards learning and the use of evidence in policymaking. By embracing the limitations of innovation in public policy, we can better manage expectations and structure the narrative regarding the capacity of public policy to address collective problems.
Author information:
Philipp Trein is Assistant Professor in Public Administration and Policy at the IEP (Institute of Political Studies) of the University of Lausanne and a Senior Fellow at the IES (Institute of European Studies) at UC Berkeley. His research interests cover comparative public policy and administration, digitalization, health policy, social policy as well as multilevel governance and federalism. The results of his work are published in leading journals of political science (e.g., European Journal of Political Research, West European Politics), public administration (e.g., Public Administration Review, Governance), and public policy (e.g., Journal of European Public Policy, Policy Sciences). His latest research project deals with the integration of artificial intelligence into public policy. More information can be found here: https://people.unil.ch/josefphilipptrein/
Thenia Vagionaki is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Princeton University. Previously, Thenia was a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Political Studies of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Lausanne and an MA in International Studies from the University of Reading, UK. Her research interests focus on policy learning, collaborative governance and innovation, comparative social policy, and European Union Studies. Her work has been published in outlets such as the Journal of European Public Policy, the International Review of Public Policy, Political Studies Review, and West European Politics.
Table of contents for special issue blog series on Policy Expertise in Times of Crisis
Policy beliefs, belief uncertainty, and policy learning through the lens of the Advocacy Coalition Framework
Matthew C. Nowlin
Policy and organisational learning in judicial reform: evidence from Italy
Jonathan C. Kamkhaji and Giancarlo Vecchi
The relative effects of diversity on collective learning in local collaborative networks in Belgium
Nadège Carlier, David Aubin and Stéphane Moyson
Types of learning and varieties of innovation: how does policy learning enable policy innovation?
Nihit Goyal and Michael Howlett
How do governments learn from ad hoc groups during crises? From SARS to COVID-19
Sreeja Nair and Akshat Garg
Why policy failure is a prerequisite for innovation in the public sector
Philipp Trein and Thenia Vagionaki
Policy & Politics Journal Blog 