Governance in Turbulent Times – and how to deal with it

My talk focuses on public governance in turbulent times and how to deal with it. I aim to suggest the contours of a design approach in political science with the backing of organization theory. The ambition is to use insights from my latest work on governing turbulence and then to set out design implications from an organizational approach to public governance. Arguably, even in turbulent times research(ers) might specify and advice on how governance processes might be deliberately designed organizationally. I hereby draw a middle-ground in an old turf-war in organization studies and public administration between ‘science’ and ‘craft’. Insights into how organizational factors affect public governance is a necessary precondition for using organization theory to meta-govern. I will advocate that organization theory as ‘craft’ requires organization theory as ‘science’. ‘’Science’ and ‘craft’, or understanding and design, are thus complementary and not opposing as too often assumed.