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Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance pp 1–7Cite as

Institutions and Wicked Problems

Synonyms

Complex problems; Organizational practices; Organizational structures; Organizations

Topics

Institutional structures; Informal practices; Wicked problems; Organizational cultures

Definition

New institutionalism:

Broad thrust of new institutionalism is the positioning of collective behavior as patterned by informal institutional norms and values.

Wicked problems:

Wicked problems are unstructured and fluid, have multiple and interconnected parts (i.e., are cross cutting), and can appear relentless – requiring novel approaches to problem solving and cross-governmental integration.

Isomorphic pressures:

“Informal” institutionalized norms and values influence how organizations function, pushing organizations to a homogenous state.

Introduction

This piece provides an overview of how theories of new institutionalism apply to government and the public sector and how they can be extended. While current research generally focuses on institutionalized practices as a source of inertia,...

Keywords

  • Public Sector
  • Vertical Integration
  • Informal Institution
  • Central Agency
  • Wicked Problem

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Service Research Group, University of New South Wales, Canberra, Australia

    Gemma Carey, Fiona Buick & Eleanor Malbon

Authors
  1. Gemma Carey
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  2. Fiona Buick
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  3. Eleanor Malbon
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gemma Carey .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

    Ali Farazmand

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Carey, G., Buick, F., Malbon, E. (2017). Institutions and Wicked Problems. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3337-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3337-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social Sciences

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