A Relational Approach to Governing Wicked Problems: From Governance Failure to Failure Governance (Palgrave Studies in Relational Sociology)

The book initiates a relational turn in policy making and governance by developing further relational political analysis and by taking relational thinking to bear on not just analytic/descriptive issues, but also to normative/prescriptive issues. The need for such a turn, this book argues, comes from the ever-increasing relevance of addressing the so-called wicked problems of governance like climate change, COVID-19 kinds of pandemics, global economic recessions and refugee crises. The book argues for a need to rethink governance as a process from the relational point of view to spur its potential for addressing these problems. What needs to be rethought is not so much the specific tools or resources of governance, but the very issue of whether governance should be seen in terms of tools and resources in the first place. This book contributes to this discussion by consolidating the relational approaches to governance thus far and by taking them to a next – normative/prescriptiv e – level. Preface and Acknowledgments Contents List of Figures List of Tables Chapter 1: Introduction: A Relational Approach to Governing Wicked Problems References Part I: A Relational Definition of Wicked Problems of Governance Chapter 2: Aren’t All Problems Wicked? Addressing the Constructive and Destructive Critiques of the Concept of Wicked Problems 2.1 Should We Have an Ontological Notion of Wicked Problems in the First Place? 2.1.1 Some Constructive and Destructive Criticisms of the Notion of Wicked Problems 2.1.2 What Are Methodology and Ontology, and How to Justify Them? 2.2 How to Understand Problems: Alternative Typologies and Frameworks 2.2.1 Alford and Head’s Contingency Framework 2.2.2 Grint: Tame, Critical, and Wicked Problems 2.3 Simple, Complex, Wicked, and De-Problematized Problems References Chapter 3: From Categorical Distinctions of Policy Problems to a Relational Approach to Wicked Problems 3.1 Substantialist and Relational Understanding of Social Processes 3.1.1 Process as Instigated by “Things”: The Notion of Self-action 3.1.2 Process as “Thing”: The Notion of Inter-action 3.1.3 Process as Constitutive Relation(S): The Notion of Trans-action 3.2 From Studying to Governing Wicked Problems: From (De)Politicization to (De-)problematization 3.2.1 Colin Hay’s Model of (De)politicization 3.2.2 Toward Discursive/Semiotic Notion of (De)politicization 3.3 From Discursive Approaches to (De)politicization to the Notion of (De-)problematization of Wicked Problems 3.4 Two Ideal Types of De-problematizing Wicked Problems: Self-active and Inter-active Governance 3.4.1 Self-active Governance as Politics of De-problematization: Individualism and Structuralism 3.4.2 Inter-active Governance as Politics of De-problematization: Networks References Chapter 4: From Governance Failure to Failure Governance: A Relational Approach to Governing Wicked Problems 4.1 Trans-Active Governance as Politics of Problematization: Governing Wicked Problems as Un-Owned Processes 4.1.1 The Contingency of the Socio-Political 4.1.2 From Contingency to Failure: Bob Jessop on Metagovernance 4.1.3 From Governance Failure to Failure Governance 4.2 Governance Failure: How and Why De-problematization Occurs 4.3 Looking Ahead: Policy Theories as Sources of Problematization and De-problematization References Part II: The History of the Present of the Theories of the Policy Process: From Self-Action to Trans-Action Chapter 5: A Genealogy of Self-Active Governance in Policy Theories 5.1 The Inception of “Policy Orientation”: The Context and Key Principles of the Normative Model of the Policy Process 5.1.1 The Policy Orientation 5.1.2 Policy Process: Knowledge Production vis-à-vis Politics 5.1.3 Policy as Finding Solutions to Problems 5.1.4 Policy as Decision-Making Process 5.1.5 Policy as Causal Chains of Functionally Linked Activities 5.2 The Discursive Context of Policy Sciences References Chapter 6: Problematizing Theoretical Understandings of Problems: From Self-actionalist to Inter-actionalist Approaches in Policy Sciences 6.1 What Is a Problem? 6.2 What to Do with Problems? 6.2.1 Problem Solution 6.2.2 Problem Resolution 6.2.3 Problem Dissolution 6.3 Beyond the Givenness of Problems 6.3.1 From Problem-Solving to Policy as Design 6.3.2 From Problem Resolution to Problem Structuring as an Analytical Strategy 6.3.3 Policy in the Context of Contingency and Chaos: An Inter-actional View 6.3.4 Inter-actional Approaches to Ensuring Substantive Outcomes in the Policy Process 6.4 In Sum: From Self-actionalism to Inter-actionalism in Policy Theories—Toward Increasing Recognition of the Contingency of the Socio-political References Chapter 7: The (Re)turn to the Political: Deepening the Grasp of Contingency in the Theories of the Policy Process 7.1 On the Constitution of Policy Problems: Bringing the Political Back In 7.1.1 From Street-Level Bureaucrats to Backward Mapping: The Problem of Policy Implementation 7.2 Four Basic Patterns in Theorizing Policy as a Contingent Process 7.2.1 The Theory of Policy Streams 7.2.2 The Theory of Advocacy Coalitions 7.2.3 “Thick” Institutionalism in Rational Choice Theory 7.2.4 The Theory of attention shifts 7.3 The Emergence of the Theories of Policy Networks 7.4 The Emergence of the Notion of Governance as Governing Through Networks 7.4.1 The New-Institutionalist Roots 7.4.2 Mixing Theories and Practices: The Roots from New Public Management 7.4.3 The Roots from Organization Studies and Political Science 7.4.4 Multi-Level Governance and/as Network Governance References Chapter 8: Speaking Truth to Power? The (Political) Constitution of Knowledge and Rationality in Policy-Making and Governance 8.1 Sources and Roles of Knowledge in the Policy Process: From Knowledge as Representation to Knowledge as Active Ordering 8.1.1 Herbert Simon and the Problem of (Bounded) Rationality 8.1.2 Lindblom Against Professional Social Inquiry: “Muddling Through” the Plurality of Policy-Relevant Knowledge 8.1.3 The Argumentative Turn in Policy Analysis 8.2 Knowledge, Truth, and Experts References Chapter 9: From De-Problematized Expert Knowledge to Politics of Critical Dialogue: Toward Process-Relational Policy Theories 9.1 Beyond Policy/Politics Dualism 9.2 Institutionalization of Politics in Policy Networks 9.3 The Political Constitution of Policy Through Issue Framing 9.4 Frame Reflection as Practical Bridging of Frames 9.5 The Politics of Critical Dialogue References Part III: Theory and Practice of Failure Governance and Governance Failure Chapter 10: A Theory of Governance as Problematization and De-problematization 10.1 Inter-actional and Trans-actional Orientations in the Analysis of the Policy Process 10.2 A Political Semiotic Theory of Governance as Problematization and De-problematization 10.2.1 A Theory of Political Semiotics Governance as Threat (Emotive Public Communication) Governance as Stoicism (Phatic Public Communication) Governance as Cynicism (Poetic Public Communication) Governance as Hierarchy (Conative Public Communication). Governance as Network (Referential Public Communication) Metagovernance (Metalingual Public Communication). 10.2.2 Methodological Consequences of the Political Semiotic Theory of Governance 10.3 A Dialogical Understanding of Theory in Case Study Research References Chapter 11: The Whole-of-Nation-Failure-Governance: Taiwan’s Politics of Problematization of COVID-19 11.1 C11: Taiwan as an Epitome of Success 11.2 Taking Stock of Alternative Explanations 11.3 A1: The Whole-of-Nation-Failure-Governance of More Than 100 Measures 11.4 C2: Taiwan’s Poor Performance at the Beginning of the Vaccination Phase of the Crisis 11.5 A3: From Domestic Politics to Geopolitical Crisis 11.6 Conclusion References Chapter 12: Making America Do Their “Own Research” Again? Trump’s Politics of De-problematization of COVID-19 12.1 C11: The US as an Epitome of Failure 12.2 Taking Stock of Alternative Explanations 12.3 The Fauci/Trump Dialectics and the Constitution “Doing Your Own Research” 12.3.1 “It’ll Go Away” 12.3.2 From “It’ll Go Away” to “New Hoax” of the Democrats to “It’s Totally Harmless” 12.3.3 “A Cheerleader for the Country” Meets Fauci 12.4 Conclusion: Making America Do Their “Own Research Again”? On the Epistemic Authority Crisis of the US References Chapter 13: Germany’s Road from Failure Governance to Governance Failure 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Operationalizing the Ethos of Failure Governance 13.3 The Beginning of the Crisis: Embracing the Ethos of Failure Governance 13.3.1 The German Leadership 13.3.2 Germany’s Institutional Starting Conditions and Administrative Culture 13.4 From Failure Governance to Governance Failure 13.5 Conclusion References Part IV: Concluding Remarks Chapter 14: In Place of Conclusions: Failing Better or Waiting for Godot in a Clumsy World of Wicked Problems? References Index