The Case for Studying Policy Success in Britain

What is it about?

This research argues that British political studies pays too much attention to policy failures—crises, blunders, and disasters—while rarely examining cases where public policy actually works well. This constant focus on failure may even reinforce public cynicism and feed populist narratives. We argue that political scientists should study policy successes—not just blunders—if they want a balanced and accurate picture of British politics.

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Why is it important?

This matters because the negativity bias distorts our understanding of how well government actually works, in doing so it reinforces public cynicism and feeds populist narratives, and limits the development of better policy tools and methods.

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