Adopting a systemic perspective appears to offer a useful way think about regulatory challenges and problems. This may explain the increasing call for 'systems thinking' in regulatory reform. Systems thinking, systems science and systems theory are a broad class of theoretical and practical tools that aim to map, explore and interrogate the behaviour and outcomes … Continue reading Systems thinking and regulatory governance: Now available as open access paper
Author: Jeroen van der Heijden
Professor Jeroen van der Heijden works at the intersection of regulation and governance, with a specific interest in regulatory stewardship and dynamic governance regimes. As Chair in Regulatory Practice at the School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington, he is involved in world-leading research on regulatory practice and contributes to the training of those involved in regulatory issues. His research is organised around key-innovations in regulatory practice (including the use of behavioural incentives in regulation, regulatory intermediaries, and the resilience of regulatory regimes) and critical policy objectives in New Zealand and elsewhere. This allows him to draw lessons from New Zealand and elsewhere to improve New Zealand regulation and its impact on economic and social performance, and to showcase the state-of-the-art in regulatory practice in New Zealand to the rest of the world.
Jeroen is an Honorary Professor at the Australian National University (School of Regulation and Global Governance), and previously held positions at the University of Amsterdam (College of Law), Delft University of Technology (Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management), and Wageningen University (Environmental Policy Group). He has published widely on regulation and governance, including five books and over 50 articles in leading academic journals.
Systems thinking and regulatory governance (6): Suggestions for further reading
Serving the growth of interest in systems thinking in public policy, scholars from various fields have started to publish ‘popular science’ books and relatively ‘easy to read’ academic books. Many of these provide superb introductions to the various strains of systems thinking discussed in this research paper. The following foundational and applied books (in no … Continue reading Systems thinking and regulatory governance (6): Suggestions for further reading
Systems thinking and regulatory governance (5): Epistemic and ethical challenges
We have reached the end of this series of blog posts on systems thinking and its application in regulatory governance scholarship. If you are tuning in just now, then I strongly recommend reading the earlier posts first: a broad introduction to the series, an exploration of the history of systems thinking, examples of systems thinking … Continue reading Systems thinking and regulatory governance (5): Epistemic and ethical challenges
Systems thinking and regulatory governance (4): Evidence and findings
We now have a good understanding of the breadth and depth of systems thinking and its possible role in regulatory governance and practice. We have also seen some examples of how systems thinking has inspired scholars in studying regulatory governance and practice. It is now time to gain some understanding of the evidence and findings … Continue reading Systems thinking and regulatory governance (4): Evidence and findings
Systems thinking and regulatory governance (3): Examples of systems thinking in regulatory scholarship
In the previous blog post, we have looked at how systems thinking may help to develop more effective and just regulatory governance and practice. We found that various trajectories of systems thinking exist and that they can be used side by side in regulatory reform. In this blog post, we will look at some examples … Continue reading Systems thinking and regulatory governance (3): Examples of systems thinking in regulatory scholarship
Systems thinking and regulatory governance (2): The evolution of systems thinking
Capturing the evolution of systems thinking and systems science is all but easy. Conventional scientific methods for unpacking and understanding historical developments often fall short of capturing the non-linearity, emergence, different worldviews, and role of feedback that have affected the different trajectories of systems thinking over the last hundred years, or so. In this blog … Continue reading Systems thinking and regulatory governance (2): The evolution of systems thinking
Systems thinking and regulatory governance (1): A review of the international academic literature
Regulatory system. It seems such a benign term that it hardly warrants attention. Or does it? The term was used over 1,300 times in New Zealand newspapers since the year 2000.[1] Among the more expressive uses are the following headlines: “Commission slams regulatory system” (Waikato Times, 14 March 2014)“Report a damning indictment of regulatory system” … Continue reading Systems thinking and regulatory governance (1): A review of the international academic literature
