Paradoxes of Modernization Unintended Consequences of Public Policy Reform

by Margetts, Helen; 6, Perri; Hood, Christopher

• ISBN13: 9780199639618
• ISBN10: 0199639612
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-04-07
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This book explores the unintended and unanticipated effects associated with 'modernization' projects and tackles the key question that they provoke - why do policy-makers persist in such enterprises in the face of evidence that they tend to fail? Paradoxes of Modernizationfirst discusses what is meant by 'modernization' and 'unintended consequences', placing public policy reform within more general intellectual and social trends. It presents eight case study 'modernization' projects. Their architects promised faster trains, a more efficient and reactive health service, a more motivated public service, better performing local government, enhanced information for prospective US university students, reduced rates of child malnutrition in developing countries, and a free, open, safe, interconnected cyberspace for people to conduct their social and political life. Each case provides a neat story with a paradox that varies the modernization theme and tackles the question:why wasthe project pursued? The conclusion categorizes the cases in terms of their outcome, from success to disappointment, and suggests some strategies for a more balanced version of modernization for current and future policy-makers.

Author Biography

Helen Margetts is Professor of Society and the Internet and Director of the Oxford Internet Institute (Oll), and Fellow of Mansfield College, University of Oxford. Perri 6 is Professor of Social Policy in the Graduate School of the College of Business, Law, and Social Policy, Nottingham Trent University. Christopher Hood is the Gladstone Professor of Government and Fellow of All Souls, University of Oxford.

Table of Contents

List of figures	p. xi
List of tables	p. xii
Contributors	p. xiii
Understanding Modernization's Paradoxes
The Drive to Modernize: A World of Surprises?	p. 3
Modernization Dreams and Public Policy Reform	p. 17
When Forethought and Outturn Part: Types of Unanticipated and Unintended Consequences	p. 44
Societal Innovations
Ranking US Public Affairs Educational Programmes: Searching for Quality, Finding Equilibrium?	p. 63
Et in Arcadia Ego: From Techno-Utopia to Cybercrime	p. 81
Happy Surprises? The Development of the World Wide Web and the Semantic Web	p. 101
State-Centred Reforms
Addressing Undernutrition in India: Do 'Rational' Approaches Work?	p. 119
Integration at Any Price: The Case of the NHS National Programme for Information Technology	p. 138
Post-Second World War British Railways: The Unintended Consequences of Insufficient Government Intervention	p. 155
Modernization of the State
The Paradox of Performance-Related Pay Systems: Why Do we Keep Adopting Them in the Face of Evidence that they Fail to Motivate?	p. 185
What if Public Management Reform Actually Works? The Paradoxical Success of Performance Management in English Local Government	p. 203
Conclusion
Modernization, Balance, and Variety	p. 221
Bibliography	p. 237
Index	p. 263
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