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INTRODUCTION TO THE SYMPOSIUM
Author(s) -
PERRI,
SWEDLOW BRENDON
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.313
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1467-9299
pISSN - 0033-3298
DOI - 10.1111/padm.12296
Subject(s) - operationalization , bridging (networking) , institutional theory , political science , public policy , public administration , core (optical fiber) , administration (probate law) , sociology , epistemology , computer science , social science , law , computer network , philosophy , telecommunications
This symposium showcases diverse contributions that a particular institutional theory of cultural biases makes to public administration and policy research. Bridging and integrating these subfields, the theory offers powerful explanations for the ways in which institutional processes drive policy‐making. Developed initially by Douglas using Durkheimian theory, Hood and Wildavsky made the theory increasingly influential in public administration and policy. Today, the theory has several variants which nevertheless share common core elements. We briefly survey this institutional theory's contributions to the study of public administration and policy before describing its central claims, analysing the uses of its variants in the symposium articles, and identifying their key advances. We conclude with challenges and promising developments in efforts to conceptualize, operationalize, and test the theory in public administration and policy research.