Libertarian Paternalism, Externalities, and the “Spirit of Liberty”: How Thaler and Sunstein Are Nudging Us toward an “Overlapping Consensus”. Richard H. Thaler, and Cass R. Sunstein. 2008 . Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Pp. x + 293. $26.00 cloth.

2011 ◽  
Vol 36 (01) ◽  
pp. 263-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anuj C. Desai
Keyword(s):  
John Rawls ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Libertarian Paternalism ◽  
Constitutional Theory ◽  
Choice Architecture ◽  
Third Way ◽  
Overlapping Consensus ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Cass Sunstein

In their 2008 bookNudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness, Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein use research from psychology and behavioral economics to argue that people suffer from systematic cognitive biases. They propose that policy makers mitigate these biases by framing people's choices in ways that help people act in their own self‐interest. Thaler and Sunstein call this approach “libertarian paternalism,” and they market it as “the Real Third Way.” In this essay, I argue that the book is a brilliant contribution to thinking about policy making but that “choice architecture” is not just a solution to the problem of cognitive biases. Rather, it is a means of approaching any kind of policy making. I further argue that policy makers must take externalities into account, even when using choice architecture. Finally, I argue that libertarian paternalism can best be seen as motivated by what Sunstein has celebrated in his work on constitutional theory: a humility about the possibility of policy‐maker error embodied in Learned Hand's famous aphorism about the “spirit of liberty” and an attempt to reduce social conflicts by searching for what John Rawls called an “overlapping consensus.”

Nudging Smokers The Behavioural Turn of Tobacco Risk Regulation

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Alemanno
Keyword(s):  
Policy Making ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Individual Choice ◽  
New Governance ◽  
Excessive Drinking ◽  
Risk Regulation ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Rational Agents ◽  
Regulatory Governance ◽  
Behavioural Research

At a time when policy makers want to change the behaviour of citizens to tackle a broad range of social problems, such as climate change, excessive drinking, obesity and crime, a promising new policy approach has appeared that seems capable of escaping the liberal reservations typically associated with all forms of regulatory action. After having relied on the assumption that governments can only change people's behaviour through rules and regulations, policy makers now seem ready to design policies that better reflect how people really behave, not how they are assumed to behave as rational agents. The approach, which stems from the increasingly ubiquitous findings of behavioural research, is generally captured under the evocative concept of ‘nudge’. Inspired by ‘libertarian paternalism’, it suggests that the goal of public policies should be to steer citizens towards making positive decisions as individuals and for society while preserving individual choice. Acting as ‘choice architects’ policy makers organize the context, process and environment in which individuals make decisions. In so doing, they exploit some patterns of irrationality, often called ‘cognitive biases’, to manipulate people's choices. Thus, in the famous Cafeteria example, the school's management might try to affect students’ diet by rearranging the display of food to make it more likely that students will choose the healthy option. This innovative approach to policy making is part of a broader shift from traditional regulation to regulatory governance that is generally referred to as New Governance.

scholarly journals BEHAVIOURAL ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICIES: SOME INTRODUCTORY ISSUES

2021 ◽  
pp. 131
Author(s):  
Aleksandar Mojašević
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Behavioural Economics ◽  
Libertarian Paternalism ◽  
Choice Architecture ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
The Third ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Behavioural Insights ◽  
Basic Concepts

The paper aims to inform the domestic public about the basic concepts of behavioural economics, its historical development and intellectual basis, the application of its findings in policymaking, and its effectiveness in current practical application. In the first part of the paper, the author presents the basic concepts of behavioural economics: the nudge, the choice architecture, the libertarian paternalism, cognitive biases, and others. The second part of the paper provides a concise overview of the critiques directed at behavioural economics and libertarian paternalism (Posner's critique, Mitchell's critique), and a review of the empirical validity of certain behavioural economics phenomena. The third part presents the use of behavioural findings to inform the design of public policy in different domains (the behavioural public policy), along with numerous examples, mostly from the practice of the Behavioural Insights Team in the United Kingdom.

Prioritizing Strategic Factors of Creative Tourism Industry in Iran by Analytic Network Process (ANP)

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 553-565
Author(s):  
Reza Kiani Mavi ◽  
Hamed Gheibdoust ◽  
Ahmad A. Khanfar
Keyword(s):  
Policy Making ◽  
Analytic Network Process ◽  
Influential Factors ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Business Support ◽  
Network Process ◽  
Strategic Factors ◽  
Strategic Policy ◽  
Strategic Policies

Nowadays, it is obvious that creative tourism industry has become very essential for countries and societies; therefore, governments work on constituting policies in order to develop this industry. To be successful in improving creative tourism industry, governments should identify the influential factors and focus on ones that are more important rather than investing a bit on many different factors. Because of the interrelations among factors, this research is aiming to prioritize factors that influence strategic policies of creative tourism industry in Iran using analytic network process (ANP). Data were collected during the period of May 2017 to February 2018. Participants in this research are 13 tourism experts with more than 10 years' experience in the field. Results show that the most influential criterion is "business support" and the most influential subcriterion is "supporting midsize businesses." This study helps policy makers to improve creative tourism by emphasizing on those factors that have high priority from the viewpoint of strategic policy-making.

Libertarian Paternalism, Manipulation, and the Shaping of Preferences

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Hanna
Keyword(s):  
Libertarian Paternalism ◽  
Cass Sunstein ◽  
Influence Behavior

This chapter considers libertarian paternalism, or “nudging,” as championed by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein. It focuses especially on the objection that such intervention is wrongly manipulative. The chapter begins by arguing that the charge of manipulation is most likely to be made against preference-shaping paternalism, which aims to influence behavior by operating on a person’s desires from the inside. It then argues that manipulation typically involves one person’s affecting another person’s deliberation for the worse: the victim of manipulation is typically led to act on bad reasons or ignore or downplay relevant considerations. This rough account of manipulation, it is argued, vindicates most of the preference-shaping strategies favored by Thaler and Sunstein. The chapter concludes by examining more problematic means of influence, such as subliminal messaging, and argues that they do not pose any distinctive threat to a pro-paternalist view.

Sentencing Policy as a Force for Social Cohesion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Henham
Keyword(s):  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Social Values ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Normative Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sentencing Policy

This chapter sets out the case for adopting a normative approach to conceptualizing the social reality of sentencing. It argues that policy-makers need to comprehend how sentencing is implicated in realizing state values and take greater account of the social forces that diminish the moral credibility of state sponsored punishment. The chapter reflects on the problems of relating social values to legal processes such as sentencing and argues that crude notions of ‘top down’ or ‘bottom up’ approaches to policy-making should be replaced by a process of contextualized policy-making. Finally, the chapter stresses the need for sentencing policy to reflect those moral attachments that bind citizens together in a relational or communitarian sense. It concludes by exploring these assertions in the light of the sentencing approach taken by the courts following the English riots of 2011.

scholarly journals Nudge Versus Boost: Agency Dynamics Under Libertarian Paternalism

2019 ◽  
Vol 130 (629) ◽  
pp. 1384-1415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Hertwig ◽  
Michael D Ryall
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Libertarian Paternalism ◽  
The Future ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Individual

ABSTRACT Thaler and Sunstein (2008) advance the concept of ‘nudge’ policies—non-regulatory and non-fiscal mechanisms designed to enlist people's cognitive biases or motivational deficits so as to guide their behaviour in a desired direction. A core assumption of this approach is that policymakers make artful use of people's cognitive biases and motivational deficits in ways that serve the ultimate interests of the nudged individual. We analyse a model of dynamic policymaking in which the policymaker's preferences are not always aligned with those of the individual. One novelty of our set-up is that the policymaker has the option to implement a ‘boost’ policy, equipping the individual with the competence to overcome the nudge-enabling bias once and for all. Our main result identifies conditions under which the policymaker chooses not to boost in order to preserve the option of using the nudge (and its associated bias) in the future—even though boosting is in the immediate best interests of both the policymaker and the individual. We extend our analysis to situations in which the policymaker can be removed (e.g., through an election) and in which the policymaker is similarly prone to bias. We conclude with a discussion of some policy implications of these findings.

scholarly journals Science Informed Policies for Managing Water

Hydrology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 66
Author(s):  
Daniel P. Loucks
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Water Resource ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Information Policy ◽  
Management Policy ◽  
Multiple Impacts ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Science Policy Interface ◽  
Management Policies

Water resource management policies impact how water supplies are protected, collected, stored, treated, distributed, and allocated among multiple users and purposes. Water resource policies influence the decisions made regarding the siting, design, and operation of infrastructure needed to achieve the underlying goals of these policies. Water management policies vary by region depending on particular hydrologic, economic, environmental, and social conditions, but in all cases they will have multiple impacts affecting these conditions. Science can provide estimates of various economic, ecologic, environmental, and even social impacts of alternative policies, impacts that determine how effective any particular policy may be. These impact estimates can be used to compare and evaluate alternative policies in the search for identifying the best ones to implement. Among all scientists providing inputs to policy making processes are analysts who develop and apply models that provide these estimated impacts and, possibly, their probabilities of occurrence. However, just producing them is not a guarantee that they will be considered by policy makers. This paper reviews various aspects of the science-policy interface and factors that can influence what information policy makers need from scientists. This paper suggests some ways scientists and analysts can contribute to and inform those making water management policy decisions. Brief descriptions of some water management policy making examples illustrate some successes and failures of science informing and influencing policy.

scholarly journals Diagnostic evaluation with simulated probabilities

Evaluation ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-115
Author(s):  
Barbara Befani ◽  
Corinna Elsenbroich ◽  
Jen Badham
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Subjective Probability ◽  
Diagnostic Evaluation ◽  
Proof Of Concept ◽  
Third Way ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Strength Of Evidence ◽  
Evaluation Subjective

As policy makers require more rigorous assessments for the strength of evidence in Theory-Based evaluations, Bayesian logic is attracting increasing interest; however, the estimation of probabilities that this logic (almost) inevitably requires presents challenges. Probabilities can be estimated on the basis of empirical frequencies, but such data are often unavailable for most mechanisms that are objects of evaluation. Subjective probability elicitation techniques are well established in other fields and potentially applicable, but they present potential challenges and might not always be feasible. We introduce the community to a third way: simulated probabilities. We provide proof of concept that simulation can be used to estimate probabilities in diagnostic evaluation and illustrate our case with an application to health policy.

Policy analysis in state governments in Mexico

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan C. Olmeda
Keyword(s):  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Mexico City ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
State Level ◽  
Executive Branch ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Mexican State ◽  
Policy Making Process ◽  
Mexican Politics

State governments have acquired a central role in Mexican politics and policy making during the last decades as a result of both democratization and decentralization. Nowadays state governments not only concentrate a significant portion of prerogatives and responsibilities in terms of service delivery but also control a substantial share of public spending. However, no systematic studies have been developed in order to understand how state governments function. This chapter provides an overview on how policies are crafted at the subnational (state) level in Mexico, the main actors taking place in the process and the way in which professional knowledge and advice influence policy makers. As it argues, the central role in the policy making process is played by the executive branch, being the governors the ones who have the final word in most important decisions. In addition, secretaries also concentrate power in particular policy areas. As a result of the lack of a professional civil service, however, a significant portion of policy analysis is performed by non-governmental actors (universities, NGOs and private firms). The chapter applies this framework to analyze a particular Mexican state, namely Mexico City.

Health inequalities: still making policy in a fog?

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARTIN POWELL
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Policy Perspective ◽  
What Works ◽  
Health Action ◽  
Policy Analysts ◽  
Unrealistic Expectations

What Works in Tackling Health Inequalities? Pathways, Policies and Practice through the Lifecourse S. Asthana and J. Halliday Bristol: Policy, Press, 2006Health Action Zones: Partnerships for Health Equity M. Barnes, L. Bauld, M. Benzeval, K. Judge, M. Mackenzie, H. Sullivan Abingdon: Routledge, 2005Health Inequality: An Introduction to Theories, Concepts and Methods M. Bartley Cambridge: Polity, 2004Status Syndrome: How your Social Standing Directly Affects your Health and Life Expectancy M. Marmot London: Bloomsbury, 2004These four texts on health inequalities are all very different books written by leading commentators with different academic backgrounds. This review will concentrate on the policy perspective that may be of most interest to many readers of this journal. It is also arguably the Achilles heel of the health inequalities literature. According to policy makers, much current research on health inequalities was of little use to policy making, and public health researchers have been criticized for political naivety, for lacking understanding of how policy is made, and for having unrealistic expectations (Petticrew et al., 2004: 815–816). Similarly, Klein (2003) points to the problems of ‘making policy in a fog’. The first two texts under review focus on policy and are written by policy analysts.

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