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Singular memory or institutional memories? toward a dynamic approach
Citation
Corbett, J and Grube, DC and Lovell, H and Scott, R, Singular memory or institutional memories? toward a dynamic approach, Governance, 31, (3) pp. 555-573. ISSN 0952-1895 (2018) [Refereed Article]
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 conceptualization of institutional memory needs to be recalibrated to fit the types of policy learning practices required by modern collaborative governance.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | institutional memory, governance, policy, civil service |
Research Division: | Human Society |
Research Group: | Policy and administration |
Research Field: | Public administration |
Objective Division: | Law, Politics and Community Services |
Objective Group: | Government and politics |
Objective Field: | Public services policy advice and analysis |
UTAS Author: | Lovell, H (Professor Heather Lovell) |
ID Code: | 126915 |
Year Published: | 2018 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 8 |
Deposited By: | Office of the School of Social Sciences |
Deposited On: | 2018-07-02 |
Last Modified: | 2018-12-03 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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