Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pjpqr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-04T20:04:51.243Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Public sector reform and blame avoidance effects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 June 2013

Peter B. Mortensen
Peter B. Mortensen*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, Denmark E-mail: peter@ps.au.dk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Blame avoidance has often been claimed to be an important rationale behind changes in the organisation of the public sector, but very few studies have examined whether and how public attribution of responsibility is actually affected by such reforms. For instance, how do changes in the formal allocation of authority affect public attribution of blame when things go wrong? Is the effect immediate or delayed? To advance our understanding of such questions, this paper presents an analysis of blame and credit attribution in more than 1,200 newspaper articles about health-care-related issues in Norway before and after the major Norwegian hospital reform from 2002. The central empirical finding of the article is that central state-level authorities in Norway were attributed less blame in media coverage of health-care problems after the reform than before the reform. The shift is delayed, but substantial and robust to various modifications in model estimations.

Keywords

blame avoidancenew public managementreform
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Public Policy , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , August 2013 , pp. 229 - 253
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anand, P. (1998) Blame, Game Theory and Economic policy: The Cases of Health and Public Finance. Journal of Theoretical Politics 10(1): 111–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arceneaux, K. (2006) The Federal Face of Voting: Are Elected Officials Held Accountable for the Functions Relevant to Their Office? Political Psychology 27(5): 731–754.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atkeson, L. R.Partin, R. W. (2001) Candidate Advertisements, Media Coverage, and Citizen Attitudes: The Agendas and Roles of Senators and Governors in Federal System. Political Research Quarterly 54(4): 795–813.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartels, L. (2008) The Opinion-Policy Disconnect: Cross-National Spending Preferences and Democratic Representation. Unpublished working paper.Google Scholar
Bartling, B.Fischbacher, U. (2012) Shifting the Blame: On Delegation and Responsibility. Review of Economic Studies 79: 67–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumgartner, F. R.Jones, B. D. (2004) Representation and Agenda Setting. Policy Studies Journal 32(1): 1–24.Google Scholar
Birkland, T.Waterman, S. (2008) Is Federalism the Reason for Policy Failure in Hurricane Katrina? Publius: The Journal of Federalism 38(4): 692–714.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bishop, W. (1990) A Theory of Administrative Law. Journal of Legal Studies 19: 489–530.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brändström, A., Kuipers, S.Daléus, P. (2008) The Politics of Blame Management in Scandinavia after the Tsunami Disaster. In Boin A., ‘t Hart P. and McConnel A. (eds.), Governing After Crises. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 114–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brody, R. (1991) Assessing Presidential Character: The Media, Elite Opinion and Public Support. Stanford: Stanford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coffman, L. (2011) Intermediation Reduces Punishment (and Reward). American Economic Journal: Microeconomics 3(4): 77–106.Google Scholar
Cronin, T. E. (1980) The State of the Presidency. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.Google Scholar
Dearing, J. W.Rogers, E. M. (1996) Agenda-Setting. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delli, C., Michael, X.Keeter, S. (1996) What Americans Know About Politics and Why It Matters. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Dunleavy, P., Margetts, H., Bastow, S.Tinkler, J. (2005) New Public Management is Dead – Long Live Digital-Era Governance. Journal of Public Administration Theory & Research 16: 467–494.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R. J. (1994) Presidential Lightning Rods. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Press.Google Scholar
Fiorina, M. (1982) Legislative Choice of Regulatory Forms: Legal Process or Administrative Process. Public Choice 38: 33–66.Google Scholar
Flinders, M. (2008) Delegated Governance and the British State. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilens, M.Murakawa, N. (2002) Elite Cues and Political Decision-Making. In Michael X., Carpini D., Huddy L. and Shapiro R. Y. (eds.), Research in Micropolitics: Political Decision-Making, Deliberation and Participation. Greenwich: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Hagen, T. P.Kaarbøe, O. M. (2006) The Norwegian Hospital Reform of 2002: Central Government Takes Over Ownership of Public Hospitals. Health Policy 76: 320–333.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hamman, J., Loewenstein, G.Weber, R. (2010) Self-interest Through Agency: An Alternative Rationale for the Principal-Agent Relationship. American Economic Review 100: 1826–1846.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hetherington, M. J. (1996) The Media's Role in Forming Voters’ National Economic Evaluations in 1992. American Journal of Political Science 40(2): 372–395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hood, C. (2000) Paradoxes of Public-Sector Managerialism, Old Public Management and Public Service Bargains. International Public Management Journal 3: 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hood, C. (2002a) Control, Bargains, and Cheating: The Politics of Public-Service Reform. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 12: 309–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hood, C. (2002b) The Risk Game and the Blame Game. Government and Opposition 37: 15–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hood, C. (2007) What Happens When Transparency Meets Blame-Avoidance? Public Management Review 9(2): 191–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hood, C. (2011) The Blame Game. Spin, Bureaucracy, and Self-Preservation in Government. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Hood, C., James, O., Jones, G., Scott, C.Travers, T. (1999) Regulation Inside Government. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hood, C.Peters, G. (2004) The Middle Aging of New Public Management: Into the Age of Paradox? Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 14: 267–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hood, C.Lodge, M. (2006) The Politics of Public Service Bargains. Reward, Competency, Loyalty – and Blame. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hood, C., Jennings, W., Dixon, R., Hogwood, B.Beeston, C. (2009) Testing Times: Exploring Staged Responses and the Impact of Blame Management Strategies in Two Exam Fiasco Cases. European Journal of Political Research 48: 695–722.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hooghe, L., Marks, G.Schakel, A. H. (2010) The Rise of Regional Authority: A Comparative Study of 42 Democracies (1950–2006). London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horn, M. J. (1995) The Political Economy of Public Administration. Institutional Choice in the Public Sector. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iyengar, S. (1989) How Citizens Think About National Issues: A Matter of Responsibility. American Journal of Political Science 33(4): 878–900.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kejkshus, L. E.Veggeland, F. (2011) State Regulatory Capacity: Experiences from Public Sector Reforms in Norway. Public Administration 89(4): 1568–1584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laski, H. J. (1940) The American Presidency: An Interpretation. New York: Harper and Brothers.Google Scholar
Listhaug, O.Aardal, B. (2011) Politisk tillit – et mål på demokratisk helsetilstand? In Aardal B. (ed.), Det politiske landskab. Latvia: Cappelen Damm AS.Google Scholar
Lombard, M., Snyder-Duch, J.Bracken, C. C. (2002) Content Analysis in Mass Communication: Assessment and Reporting of Intercoder Reliability. Human Communication Research 28: 587–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lund, A. B. (2000) Først med det sidste – en nyhedsuge i Danmark. Århus: Ajour.Google Scholar
Lægreid, P., Opedal, S.Stigen, I. M. (2005) The Norwegain Hospital Reform – Balancing Political Control and Entreprise Autonomy. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 30(6): 1027–1064.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maestas, C. D., Atkeson, L. R., Croom, T.Bryant, L. A. (2008) Shifting the Blame: Federalism, Media, and Public Assignment of Blame Following Hurricane Katrina. Publius: The Journal of Federalism 38(4): 609–632.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, S.Smith, P. C. (2005) Multiple Public Service Performance Indicators: Toward an Integrated Statistical Approach. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 15: 599–613.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGraw, K. M. (1990) Avoiding Blame: An Experimental Investigation of Political Excuses and Justifications. British Journal of Political Science 20(1): 119–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGraw, K. M. (1991) Managing Blame: An Experimental Test of the Effects of Political Accounts. American Political Science Review 85(4): 1133–1157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meier, K. J.JrO'Toole, L. J. (2008) The Proverbs of New Public Management: Lessons from an Evidence-Based Research Agenda. The American Review of Public Administration 39: 4–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicholson, S., Segura, G. M.Woods, N. D. (2003) Presidential Approval and the Mixed Blessing of Divided Government. Journal of Politics 64(3): 701–720.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Opedal, S.Rommetvedt, H. (2009) Sykehus på Løvebakken. Stortingets engasjement og innflytelse før og etter sykehusreformen. Tidsskrift for samfundsforskning 46(2): 99–132.Google Scholar
Opedal, S.Rommetvedt, H. (2010) From Politics to Management – or More Politics? Hospital Reforms and Parliamentary Questioning in Denmark, Norway and the United Kingdom. Public Management: An International Journal of Research and Theory 12(2): 191–212.Google Scholar
Peffley, M.Williams, J. T. (1985) Attributing Presidential Responsibility for National Economic Problems. American Politics Quarterly 13: 393–425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powell, G. B.Whitten, G. D. (1993) A Cross-National Analysis of Economic Voting: Taking Account of the Political Context. American Journal of Political Science 37(29): 391–414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rudolph, T. J. (2003) Who's Responsible for the Economy? The Formation and Consequences of Responsibility Attributions. American Journal of Political Science 47(4): 698–713.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schick, A. 1996. The Spirit of Reform: Managing the New Zealand State Sector in a Time of Change. A Report Prepared for the State Services Commission and The Treasury, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Shoemaker, P.Reese, S. D. (1996) Mediating the Message. Theories of Influences on Mass Media Content. New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Soroka, S. (2006) Good News and Bad News: Asymmetric Responses to Economic Information. Journal of Politics 68(2): 372–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soss, J., Fording, R.Schram, S. F. (2011) The Organization of Discipline: From Performance Management to Perversity and Punishment. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 21: i203–i232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sotirovic, M. (2003) How Individuals Explain Social Problems: The Influences of Media Use. Journal of Communication 53(1): 122–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stark, A. (2002) What is the New Public Management? Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 12: 137–151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, E.Tillotsen, G. (1999) Caught in the Act: The Smoking Gun View of Ministerial Responsibility. Australian Journal of Public Administration 58(1): 48–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tjerbo, T.Hagen, T. P. (2009) Deficits, Soft Budget Constrains and Bailouts: Budgeting After the Norwegian Hospital Reform. Scandinavian Political Studies 32(3): 337–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weaver, K. R. (1986) The Politics of Blame Avoidance. Journal of Public Policy 6(4): 371–398.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weimer, D. L. (2006) The Puzzle of Private Rulemaking: Expertise, Flexibility, and Blame Avoidance in U.S. Regulation. Public Administration Review 569–582.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wien, C.Elmelund-Præstekær, C. (2009) An Anaotomy of Media-Hypes: Developing a Model for the Dynamics and Structure of Intense Media Coverage of Single Issues. European Journal of Communication 24(2): 183–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, R. L. (2000) A Note on Robust Variance Estimation for Cluster-Correlated Data. Biometrics 56: 645–646.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Woodhouse, D. (2004) UK Ministerial Responsibility in 2002: The Tale of Two Resignations. Public Administration 82(1): 1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar