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Book cover

Clumsy Solutions for a Complex World

Governance, Politics and Plural Perceptions

  • Book
  • © 2006

Overview

Editors:
  1. Marco Verweij

    1. Singapore Management University, Singapore

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  2. Michael Thompson

    1. James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization, University of Oxford, UK

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Part of the book series: Global Issues (GLOISS)

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Table of contents (11 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
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  2. The Case for Clumsiness

    1. The Case for Clumsiness

      • Marco Verweij, Mary Douglas, Richard Ellis, Christoph Engel, Frank Hendriks, Susanne Lohmann et al.
      Pages 1-27

  4. Clumsy Solutions

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 155-156
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    2. Gunfight at the Consequentialist Corral: The Deadlock in the United States over Firearms Control, and How to Break it

      • Dan M. Kahan, Donald Braman, John Gastil
      Pages 157-180

    3. Floods and Fairness in Hungary

      • Joanne Linnerooth-Bayer, Anna Vári, Michael Thompson
      Pages 181-203

    4. Inclusive by Design: The Curious Case Of the Internet

      • Tommy Tranvik, Michael Thompson
      Pages 204-225

    5. You Never Miss the Water till the Well Runs Dry: Crisis and Creativity in California

      • Denise Lach, Helen Ingram, Steve Rayner
      Pages 226-240

    6. Clumsy Conclusions: How to Do Policy and Research in a Complex World

      • Marco Verweij, Michael Thompson, Christoph Engel
      Pages 241-249

  5. Back Matter

    Pages 250-255
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Keywords

About this book

Clumsy Solutions for a Complex World is a powerful and original statement on why well-intended attempts to alleviate pressing social ills too often derail, and how effective, efficient and broadly acceptable solutions to social problems can be found.

Reviews

'A fascinating manifesto.' - The Globe and Mail

'...In an ideal world, everyone that has even a remote relation to policy and decision making would keep a well-worn copy of this book always at hand.' - British Journal of Sociology

'Both those who try to understand policy failures and those who intend to advise policy makers should take its argument about clumsiness seriously According to Verweij, Thompson and Engel, clumsiness is the new norm to craft policies suited to our complex world through the acknowledgement of plural logics. The message is convincingly conveyed here.'

- Political Geography

'Casual observers might think 'clumsiness' comes naturally to government and public policy-making. If so, they might be surprised by how often it is carefully suppressed - often with disastrous consequences, as this book shows. We need to develop the methodology for the important angle of vision this book represents.' - Christopher Hood, Gladstone Professor of Government, University of Oxford, UK

'This study is a clever and important assault on the precepts 'drummed into the heads of those who aspire to be policy analysts' - that there is a single mindset in which a problem must be defined, facts and values distinguished and simple evaluative metrics deployed to achieve optimisation. The authors demonstrate the tragedies perpetrated by this dangerous approach. They show that plural voices - as identified by cultural theory - are necessary for clumsy, but safe, constructively engaged and politically feasible policy-making.' - Tony Allan, Kings College and SOAS, University of London, UK

Editors and Affiliations

  • Singapore Management University, Singapore

    Marco Verweij

  • James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization, University of Oxford, UK

    Michael Thompson

About the editors

JOHN ADAMS Emeritus Professor of Geography, University College London, UK MARK BOVENS Professor of Public Administration, Utrecht School of Governance, Utrecht University, The Netherlands DONALD BRAMAN Associate Professor of Law at the George Washington University, Washington DC, USA MARY DOUGLAS was Professor of Anthropology, University College London, UK, and Emeritus Avalon Foundation Professor of the Humanities, Northwestern University, USA RICHARD J. ELLIS Mark O. Hatfield Professor of Politics, Willamette University, Salem, USA CHRISTOPH ENGEL Professor of Law and Director of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn, Germany JOHN GASTIL Professor in the Department of Communication, University of Washington, USA DIPAK GYAWALI Academician with the Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, Nepal FRANK HENDRIKS Professor in Comparative Governance, Tilburg School of Politics and Public Administration, Tilburg University, The Netherlands HELEN INGRAM Drew, Chace and Erin Wermington Chair in the Social Ecology of Peace and International Co-operation, University of California, Irvine, USA MICHAEL D. INTRILIGATOR Professor of Economics, University of California, Los Angeles, USA DAN M. KAHAN Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Law and Deputy Dean, Yale Law School, USA DENISE LACH Professor of Sociology, Oregon State University, USA CATHERINE H. LEE Recently received a Masters of Science in Management Research from the Said Business School, University of Oxford, UK JOANNE LINNEROOTH-BAYER Leader of the Risk and Vulnerability Programme at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg, Austria SUSANNE LOHMANN Professor of Political Science and Policy Studies, Director of the Center for Governance, and Founding Faculty Member of the Interdisciplinary Degree Programme on Human Complex Systems at the University of California, USA STEVEN NEY Teaches Public Policy Analysis at the Singapore Management University, Singapore STEVE RAYNER James Martin Professor of Science and Civilization and Director of the James Martin Institute, University of Oxford, UK TOMMY TRANVIK Researcher at the Stein Rokkan Centre for Social Studies, University of Bergen, Norway MARGO TRAPPENBURG Senior Researcher at the Utrecht School of Governance, Utrecht University, The Netherlands ANNA VÁRI Senior Researcher at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Institute of Sociology and Professor at the Department of Environmental Economics of the Budapest University of Technical and Economic Sciences, Hungary JANINE R. WEDEL Professor in the School of Public Policy, George Mason University, USA

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