Memory and Institutional Amnesia in Government [electronic resource].

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stark, Alastair

Gajurel, Hridesh, author.

Corbett, Jack, 1943- author.

Grube, Dennis C., author.

Lovell, Heather, author.

Scott, Rodney James, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public administration--Evaluation--Case studies.

Public administration.

Public administration--Australia--Case studies.

Public administration--Great Britain--Case studies.

Public administration--New Zealand--Case studies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2026.

Summary:

Memory and Institutional Amnesia in Government examines the way in which government suffers from institutional amnesia, meaning that it cannot hold or use memory of the past.

Contents:

Cover

Title page

Copyright page

Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

1 Remembering the Past to Govern in the Present

Introduction

The Causes of Amnesia

The Effects of Amnesia

The Treatments for Amnesia

A Mixed Method Research Design

Arguments and Findings

Chapter Outline

Conclusion

Part I. Formal-Institutional Amnesia

2 Formal-Institutional Amnesia

The Storage Bin Metaphor

Emptying the Bins: The Causes of Formal-Institutional Amnesia

The Effects of Formal-Institutional Amnesia

Researching Formal-Institutional Amnesia

The Survey Analysis (1): A Conceptual Model of Institutional Amnesia

The Survey Analysis (2): The Survey Instrument

The Interviews: Process and Analysis

3 The Causes of Institutional Amnesia

Survey Data: Institutional Churn Overview

Staff Turnover: The Loss of Knowledge and Meaning

Knowledge Management Systems: Lost History and Locked Vaults of Memory

Machinery of Government Change

4 The Effects of Institutional Amnesia

History Repeating

The 'Why Rationale'

Inefficiency

Part II. Cultural Amnesia and Storytelling

5 Cultural Memory, Storytelling, and the Loss of Remembrance

The Social, Organizational, and Policy Dimensions of Cultural Memory

Storytelling Expectations

6 The Ghost of Aid Agencies Past: Narrating the Lives and Deaths of an Institution

Interpreting Memory and Amnesia: Structure and Agency

Narrating the Lives and Deaths of Australia's Aid Agencies

7 Remembered, Retold, and Forgotten: New Public Management Stories in New Zealand

Introduction

Stories From Those Who Were There

Old Stories, New Tellers, and Spaces for Appropriation

That is Just the Way It Is: Distant Myths, Forgotten Stories, and Business as Usual

8 The UK Treasury: Memory as Orthodoxy and Convention

The Treasury View and the Four Stories That Sustain It

Story 1: The Constant, Unchanging Force

Story 2: Churn is a Sign of Success

Story 3: Treasury Exceptionalism

Story 4: Organized Wisdom

9 Trauma, Radical Acceptance, and Machinery of Government Changes in the Energy Sector

Constant Overhaul: Machinery of Government Changes in UK and Australian Energy Policy

Storyline One: Suffering

Storyline Two: Not Much to Talk About Here

Storyline Three: Radical Acceptance

10 Treatments for Institutional Amnesia

Institutional Churn Causes Institutional Amnesia

Institutional Amnesia Creates a Loss of `Why Context'

Institutional Amnesia Causes History to Repeat

Institutional Amnesia Creates Inefficiency

Effectiveness vs Feasibility: Three Forms of Prescription

11 Conclusion

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Print version: Stark, Alastair Memory and Institutional Amnesia in Government

ISBN:

0197905005

9780197905005

OCLC:

1592685527

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license