This book provides a comprehensive overview of how the course, content and outcome of policy making is affected by big data. It scrutinises the notion that big and open data makes policymaking a more rational process, in which policy makers are able to predict, assess and evaluate societal problems. It also examines how policy makers deal with big data, the problems and limitations they face, and how big data shapes policymaking on the ground. The book considers big data from various perspectives, not just the political, but also the technological, legal, institutional and ethical dimensions. The potential of big data use in the public sector is also assessed, as well as the risks and dangers this might pose. Through several extended case studies, it demonstrates the dynamics of big data and public policy. Offering a holistic approach to the study of big data, this book will appeal to students and scholars of public policy, public administration and data science, as well as those interested in governance and politics.
Author(s): Rebecca Moody, Victor Bekkers
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 199
City: Cham
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Government Steering and the Quest for Transparency in a Changing World
1.1.1 Living in a Fragmented but Structured World?
1.1.2 Living and Working in a Networked World?
1.1.3 Living in the World of Risk?
1.1.4 Living in a Liquid World?
1.1.5 Living in a Stateless World?
1.1.6 Summary
1.2 Governance Capacity: Two Images of the Potential of Big Data
1.2.1 The Intelligent State
1.2.2 Intelligent Society
1.3 A Fragmented Picture
1.4 Outline of the Book
Literature
Chapter 2: Big Data
2.1 Big Data and Technology
2.1.1 The Technology Debate
2.1.1.1 Technological Instrumentalism
2.1.1.2 Technological Determinism
2.1.1.3 Social Construction of Technology
2.1.1.4 Information Ecology
2.2 Defining Big Data
2.2.1 Data, Information and Knowledge
2.2.2 What Makes Data Big?
2.3 The Technology Debate and Big Data
2.4 Fields of Impact
2.4.1 The Technological Field
2.4.2 The Economic Field
2.4.3 The Occupational Field
2.4.4 The Spatial Field
2.4.5 The Cultural Field
2.4.6 When the Fields Come Together
2.5 Summary
Literature
Chapter 3: Public Policymaking
3.1 Politics, Policies and Information
3.1.1 Politics and Policies
3.2 Perspectives on the Policymaking Process
3.2.1 The Rationalist Approach
3.2.2 The Political Approach
3.2.3 The Institutional Approach
3.2.4 The Cultural Approach
3.3 Big Data and the Policy Process
3.4 Synthesis
Literature
Chapter 4: Big Data and Public Policymaking
4.1 Technological Features
4.1.1 The Technology
4.1.2 The Infrastructure
4.1.3 The Data
4.2 Institutional Features
4.2.1 Legal Factors
4.2.2 Organizational Factors
4.2.2.1 IT Alignment
4.2.2.2 Other Organizational Factors
4.2.3 Government–Citizens Relations
4.3 Actions in the Policy Arena
4.3.1 The Technological Frame
4.3.2 Framing Within the Policy Arena
Literature
Chapter 5: Research Strategy
5.1 Conceptual Framework
5.2 Methodology
5.2.1 Analytical Model
5.2.2 A Comparative Case Study Methodology
5.2.3 Cases
Literature
Chapter 6: DARE in Rotterdam
6.1 Background
6.2 Features of the Technology
6.2.1 Characteristics of the Technology
6.2.2 The Infrastructure
6.2.3 The Data
6.3 Institutional Features
6.3.1 Legal Factors
6.3.2 Organizational Factors
6.3.3 Citizen Relations
6.4 Policy Arena
6.5 Course, Content and Outcome
Chapter 7: Food Security in Denmark
7.1 Background
7.2 Features of Technology
7.2.1 Characteristics of the Technology
7.2.2 The Infrastructure
7.2.3 The Data
7.3 Institutional Features
7.3.1 Legal Factors
7.3.2 Organizational Factors
7.3.3 Citizen Relations
7.4 Policy Arena
7.5 Course, Content and Outcome
Chapter 8: Noise Pollution in Dublin
8.1 Background
8.2 Features of Technology
8.2.1 Characteristics of the Technology
8.2.2 The Infrastructure
8.2.3 The Data
8.3 Institutional Factors
8.3.1 Legal Factors
8.3.2 Organizational Factors
8.3.3 Citizen Relations
8.4 Policy Arena
8.5 Course, Content and Outcome
Chapter 9: Analysis
9.1 Features of Technology
9.1.1 The Technology
9.1.2 The Infrastructure
9.1.3 The Data
9.1.3.1 Availability
9.1.3.2 Correctness
9.1.3.3 Interpretability
9.1.4 Synthesis
9.2 Institutional Features
9.2.1 Legal Factors
9.2.2 Ethical Considerations
9.2.3 Organizational Factors: Alignment
9.2.3.1 Communication
9.2.3.2 Perception of Complexity
9.2.4 Other Organizational Factors
9.2.4.1 Standardization
9.2.4.2 Autonomy
9.2.4.3 Structure of the Organization
9.2.5 Citizen Relations
9.2.6 Synthesis
9.3 The Policy Arena
9.3.1 Technological Frame
9.3.2 Values Data
9.3.3 Values Information
9.3.4 Policy Frame
9.3.5 Interaction
9.3.6 Synthesis
9.4 Course, Content and Outcome
9.4.1 Course
9.4.2 Content
9.4.3 Outcome
9.5 Towards a New Conceptual Framework
Chapter 10: Discussion
10.1 Transitions
10.1.1 Fragmentation Breeds Fragmentation?
10.1.2 Maybe Not as Networked as We Think
10.1.3 Old Risks, New Risks and Newer Risks
10.1.4 Liquid Might Still Be Semi-Solid
10.1.5 Hello State!
10.2 Two Images
10.2.1 The Intelligent Society
10.2.2 The Intelligent State
10.3 Not Policy but Structure
10.3.1 The Olympus: A Call for Centralization?
10.3.2 “Et Tu Brute”: The Death of Politics?
10.3.3 The Common Good and the Servants?
Literature
Index
