ABSTRACT
Academics and civil servants alike are now seeking new ways to tap into the wisdom of the crowds, to elicit and cultivate the practical know-how of civil servants and citizens developed in their varying contexts, to base policies on better evidence, to challenge the hegemony of experts and certain scientific disciplines on government, and to test out and assess policies in a more agile and decentralized fashion than past thinkers of public administration envisaged. Generally, there is a willingness to foster innovative thinking, whether it allows the emergence of better solutions within the public sector or whether it supports solutions developed within society more generally. The civil servants behind the cases reviewed may also have been aware of the limitations of what developers refer to as the “Big Design Up Front” approach. It is often assumed that simplicity and close-knit communities are more conducive to democracy than complex, large, loose groups.
