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Should an Ethical Public Servant Nudge?

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Abstract

Public servants around the world have embraced nudges. Using nudges, public servants can encourage individuals towards a particular choice by changing the way the decision is presented. There are now over 200 institutions applying behavioral insights to public policy, with dedicated behavioral insights teams in countries such as Japan, Singapore, UK, Australia, and Germany. It is so popular that the approach has been described as a “policy movement” and the “default policy option.” Advocates argue that by using nudges and behavioral insights, public servants can help people make better decisions. Yet critics from both academia and the public claim that the use of nudges is unethical. It is seen as a manipulation of people’s choice, and contradicts ideals of transparency in government. This chapter explores the ethical challenges to using nudges and behavioral insights and asks – should an ethical public servant nudge? The chapter first looks at the concepts of nudge and behavioral insights and their increasing use in public policy then explores the debates around the ethics of nudge. The chapter concludes by arguing that many of the ethical issues relate to particular interpretations of nudge and behavioral insights and considers if it is ever appropriate for public servants to nudge.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Colette Einfeld

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  1. Colette Einfeld
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Correspondence to Colette Einfeld .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    Helen Sullivan

  2. Public Service Research Group, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Canberra, ACT, Australia

    Helen Dickinson

  3. Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    Hayley Henderson

Section Editor information

  1. Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Helen Sullivan

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Einfeld, C. (2021). Should an Ethical Public Servant Nudge?. In: Sullivan, H., Dickinson, H., Henderson, H. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of the Public Servant. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29980-4_68

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