Tobias Bach – författare

How to better coordinate policies and public services across public sector organizations has been a major topic of public administration research for decades. However, few attempts have been made to connect these concerns with the growing body of research on biases and blind spots in decision-making. This book attempts to make that connection. It explores how day-to-day decision-making in public sector organizations is subject to different types of organizational attention biases that may lead to a variety of coordination problems in and between organizations, and sometimes also to major blunders and disasters. The contributions address those biases and their effects for various types of public organizations in different policy sectors and national contexts. In particular, it elaborates on blind spots, or ‘not seeing the not seeing’, and different forms of bureaucratic politics as theoretical explanations for seemingly irrational organizational behaviour. The book’s theoretical tools and empirical insights address conditions for effective coordination and problem-solving by public bureaucracies using an organizational perspective.

Bureaucracy is often seen as background machinery or as an obstacle to effective government. Bureaucracy and Political Science offers a different view. It shows that public bureaucracies are political organizations: shaped by political institutions and actors, but also deeply involved in shaping policy, implementation, reform, and democratic governance. The book explains why bureaucracies cannot be understood through familiar stereotypes of red tape, drift, or inefficiency alone. It shows why managing and reforming public organizations is more political, more contested, and more difficult than standard reform narratives suggest. The result is a clear and accessible account of what bureaucracy is, how it works, and why it remains a central pillar of modern democracy.

How to better coordinate policies and public services across public sector organizations has been a major topic of public administration research for decades. However, few attempts have been made to connect these concerns with the growing body of research on biases and blind spots in decision-making. This book attempts to make that connection. It explores how day-to-day decision-making in public sector organizations is subject to different types of organizational attention biases that may lead to a variety of coordination problems in and between organizations, and sometimes also to major blunders and disasters. The contributions address those biases and their effects for various types of public organizations in different policy sectors and national contexts. In particular, it elaborates on blind spots, or ‘not seeing the not seeing’, and different forms of bureaucratic politics as theoretical explanations for seemingly irrational organizational behaviour. The book’s theoretical tools and empirical insights address conditions for effective coordination and problem-solving by public bureaucracies using an organizational perspective.

How to better coordinate policies and public services across public sector organizations has been a major topic of public administration research for decades. However, few attempts have been made to connect these concerns with the growing body of research on biases and blind spots in decision-making. This book attempts to make that connection. It explores how day-to-day decision-making in public sector organizations is subject to different types of organizational attention biases that may lead to a variety of coordination problems in and between organizations, and sometimes also to major blunders and disasters. The contributions address those biases and their effects for various types of public organizations in different policy sectors and national contexts. In particular, it elaborates on blind spots, or ‘not seeing the not seeing’, and different forms of bureaucratic politics as theoretical explanations for seemingly irrational organizational behaviour. The book’s theoretical tools and empirical insights address conditions for effective coordination and problem-solving by public bureaucracies using an organizational perspective.

Es gibt seit einigen Jahren eine internationale politik- und verwaltungswissenschaftliche Diskussion zu strukturell verselbständigten Behörden außerhalb der Ministerialverwaltung („Agencies“). Ausgangspunkt ist die Beobachtung, dass bei der Ausgestaltung der Steuerungsbeziehungen zwischen Ministerien und Behörden erhebliche Unterschiede festzustellen sind, die sowohl zwischen Behörden eines Landes als auch im internationalen Vergleich bestehen. Tobias Bach untersucht am Beispiel Deutschlands und Norwegens, wie sich nationale Reformverläufe einerseits und organisatorische Merkmale wie Struktur und Aufgabe andererseits auf Steuerungsbeziehungen auswirken. Die empirische Analyse stützt sich auf standardisierte Erhebungen, die im Rahmen des internationalen Forschungsnetzwerkes COBRA („Comparative Public Organization Data Base for Research and Analysis“) durchgeführt wurden.

Es gibt seit einigen Jahren eine internationale politik- und verwaltungswissenschaftliche Diskussion zu strukturell verselbständigten Behörden außerhalb der Ministerialverwaltung („Agencies“). Ausgangspunkt ist die Beobachtung, dass bei der Ausgestaltung der Steuerungsbeziehungen zwischen Ministerien und Behörden erhebliche Unterschiede festzustellen sind, die sowohl zwischen Behörden eines Landes als auch im internationalen Vergleich bestehen. Tobias Bach untersucht am Beispiel Deutschlands und Norwegens, wie sich nationale Reformverläufe einerseits und organisatorische Merkmale wie Struktur und Aufgabe andererseits auf Steuerungsbeziehungen auswirken. Die empirische Analyse stützt sich auf standardisierte Erhebungen, die im Rahmen des internationalen Forschungsnetzwerkes COBRA („Comparative Public Organization Data Base for Research and Analysis“) durchgeführt wurden.