Corbett, Jack, Grube, Dennis C., Lovell, Heather and Scott, Rodney (2018) Singular memory or institutional memories? Toward a dynamic approach. Governance, 31 (3), 555-573. (doi:10.1111/gove.12340).
Abstract
The ability of the civil service to act as a reservoir of institutional memory is central to the pragmatic task of governing. But, there is a growing body of scholarship that suggests the bureaucracy is failing at this core task. In this article we distinguish between two different ways of thinking about institutional memory: one “static” and one “dynamic”. In the former, memory is singular and held in document form, especially by files and procedures. In the latter, memories reside with people and are thus dispersed across the array of actors that make up the differentiated polity. Drawing on four policy examples from three countries we argue that a more dynamic understanding of the way institutions remember is both empirically salient and normatively desirable. We conclude that the current conceptualisation of institutional memory needs to be recalibrated to fit the types of policy learning practices required by modern collaborative governance.
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- Faculties (pre 2018 reorg) > Faculty of Engineering and the Environment (pre 2018 reorg) > Southampton Marine & Maritime Institute (pre 2018 reorg)
- Faculties (pre 2018 reorg) > Faculty of Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences (pre 2018 reorg) > Social Sciences (pre 2018 reorg) > Politics & International Relations (pre 2018 reorg)
Current Faculties > Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Economic Social and Political Science > Social Sciences (pre 2018 reorg) > Politics & International Relations (pre 2018 reorg)
School of Economic Social and Political Science > Social Sciences (pre 2018 reorg) > Politics & International Relations (pre 2018 reorg)
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