The Geographies of Policy Translation: How Nudge Became the Default Policy Option

Rhys Jones, Jessica Pykett and Mark Whitehead

Environment and Planning C, 2014, vol. 32, issue 1, 54-69

Abstract: This paper examines the emergence of libertarian paternalism or ‘nudge’ as a rationale of government in the UK and charts the way in which this development has been enabled by, and has enabled, a process of policy translation. We examine: the reasons for the emergence of libertarian paternalism in the UK; the processes that have enabled libertarian paternalism to become a significant way of framing policy in the UK for both the New Labour and the Coalition administrations; the way in which this set of policy initiatives has been predicated upon a process of social and spatial embedding that has seen it become interpreted as a meaningful and default solution to a whole host of social ills. We conclude by arguing that there is a need to appreciate both the political malleability of libertarian paternalism as a concept and the complex geographies that have enabled it to assume political significance in the UK.

Keywords: policy translation; policy transfer; libertarian paternalism; UK (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envirc:v:32:y:2014:i:1:p:54-69

DOI: 10.1068/c1252

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