Zombie Ideas
Why Failed Policy Ideas Persist

Why do governments continue to use policy ideas that have failed in the past?

Brainard Guy Peters (Author), Maximilian Lennart Nagel (Author)

9781108926034, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 24 December 2020

75 pages
22.8 x 15.1 x 0.5 cm, 0.115 kg

'Sadly, for an empirical discipline such as public policy analysis, the world is full of ideas that do not die and resist empirical falsification, 'no matter how often they are disproved' (p.7). The zombies are everywhere, in security issues, social policy, innovation and regulation - for example, 'prohibition is the means to address substance abuse' (par.2.7). This was, for me, the most entertaining reading. Beyond being a pleasure to read, this volume raises and answers fundamental questions: where do zombie ideas come from? How do they become zombie after they are proved wrong? Why do they survive? This is the analytical juice of this Element: it takes an important pressing problem and leverages the best explanations available to handle it. The public anxieties about post-truth are a natural reference for the readers of this Element.' Claudio M. Radaelli, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice

Ideas are important in shaping the policy choices of governments. But many ideas that have not been successful in the past continue to be used by policymakers, and some good ideas tend not to be adopted. This Element will focus on why governments make these poor policy choices. We will discuss a number of examples of 'zombie ideas' that refuse to die, and then discuss the factors that are associated with their survival. Those factors occur at the elite, the organizational and the societal level. We will also examine some 'ghost' ideas that may well be successful but have a difficult time being adopted, and the factors that are associated with the exclusion of these ideas from the policy process.

1. Policy ideas and public problems
2. What do we mean by zombie ideas?
3. Why do zombie ideas persist?
4. The uses of zombie ideas
5. How do ideas become zombies?
6. Hypotheses about the likelihood of zombie ideas
7. Conclusions.

Subject Areas: Business innovation [KJD], Business strategy [KJC], Political economy [KCP], Economic theory & philosophy [KCA]