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Reflection in the Shadow of Blame: When Do Politicians Appoint Commissions of Inquiry?

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  • Sulitzeanu-Kenan, Raanan

Abstract

Commissions of inquiry play an important role in the aftermath of crisis, by serving as instruments of accountability and policy learning. Yet crises also involve a high-stake game of political survival, in which accountability and learning pose a serious threat to incumbent politicians. The political decision of whether to appoint a commission of inquiry after a crisis thus provides a unique prism for studying the intense conflict between politics, accountability and policy learning. Using data from the United Kingdom, this study develops and tests a choice model for this political decision. The results show that the political decision to appoint inquiries into public crises is strongly influenced by short-term blame avoidance considerations, media salience and government popularity.

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  • Sulitzeanu-Kenan, Raanan, 2010. "Reflection in the Shadow of Blame: When Do Politicians Appoint Commissions of Inquiry?," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(3), pages 613-634, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:bjposi:v:40:y:2010:i:03:p:613-634_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Alastair Stark & Sophie Yates, 2021. "Public inquiries as procedural policy tools [Policy tools theory and implementation networks: understanding state enterprise zone partnerships]," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 40(3), pages 345-361.
    2. Christian Nitzl & Dennis Hilgers & Bernhard Hirsch & David Lindermüller, 2020. "The Influence of the Organizational Structure, Environment, and Resource Provision on the Use of Accrual Accounting in Municipalities," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 72(2), pages 271-298, April.
    3. Ching Leong & Michael Howlett, 2017. "On credit and blame: disentangling the motivations of public policy decision-making behaviour," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 50(4), pages 599-618, December.

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