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To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2010.01811.x Byline: MARTIN LODGE (1), KAI WEGRICH (2), GAIL McELROY (3) Abstract: In the study of risk regulation, grid-group cultural theory has attracted considerable interest. There has, however, been a lack of a systematic interest in its claims and in methodological issues. In this article, we present five claims that are drawn from cultural theory and assess them in the light of failure in meat inspections in Germany. These claims are assessed through the analysis of argumentation as recorded in newspapers. In the light of its empirical findings, this article argues that the claims and methodology employed offer a promising avenue for further work to investigate the usefulness of this particular theoretical approach. Author Affiliation: (1)Martin Lodge is Reader in Political Science and Public Policy in the Department of Government and the ESRC Centre for Analysis of Risk and Regulation, London School of Economics and Political Science. (2)Kai Wegrich is Professor of Public Management in the Hertie School of Governance, Berlin. (3)Gail McElroy is Lecturer in Political Science in the Department of Political Science, Trinity College Dublin. Article History: Date received 23 March 2009. Date accepted 24 May 2009.

This article argues that the public management of risk faces inherent 'wicked issue' problems which are further accentuated in the context of the contemporary regulatory state. It is suggested that in order to overcome these limitations and inevitable trade-offs, there needs to be a more conscientious effort in setting out distinct components of any public management of risk, which should be considered and discussed through the lens of distinct worldviews contrasting interpretations and solutions, as well as potential 'black-spots.' It is only by acknowledging limitations of any one strategy and by considering plural solutions that there is less likelihood of disappointment when dealing with crises and disasters. KEY WORDS: disaster and risk management, governance, public management, cultural theory, regulatory state, Introduction: The Public Management of Risk Much has been made of the various sources of risks and crises likely to affect countries in the course of the twenty-first century. Be [...]

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-923X.2006.00807.x Byline: CHRISTOPHER HOOD (1), MARTIN LODGE (2) Author Affiliation: (1)Gladstone Professor of Government at All Souls College, University of Oxford. (2)Lecturer in Political Science and Public Policy in the Department of Government, Loncon School of Economics.

The era of public management change is said to challenge traditional 'command and control' modes of governance, encouraging a move toward either more informal forms of (co-) governance or market-type incentives and competition. Regardless of whether these claims are made by reform advocates or by more sceptical observers within the wider governance debate, less attention has been paid by either side on the mechanisms that are supposed to facilitate the spread of new forms of control. This article seeks to advance this state of affairs in two ways. First, it utilizes the notion of institutional isomorphism to explore the nature of change of modes of control. In particular, it assesses the mechanisms for change, whether control mechanisms are changing due to coercive, mimetic, or professional mechanisms. Second, it explores the impact of these mechanisms in the federal context of Germany in two policy domains, prison and local government supervision (in the field of building administration). Finally, this article suggests that cultural theory offers considerable insights for the study of institutional isomorphism by emphasizing conflicting worldviews and the diversity of related policy ideas as driving forces of change in modes of governance. KEY WORDS: institutional isomorphism, cultural theory, modes of control, prison, building administration, Introduction One of the central themes in the contemporary public management literature has been that 'governance,' defined here as a set of instruments of regulation and control, has moved or [...]