Original
Institutional amnesia and public administration: does history repeat?
Abstract
Abstract Existing research suggests that a lack of institutional memory causes history to repeat in problematic ways within public administration agencies. However, this claim has not been well supported by theory or data that illuminate the process and effects of history repeating. To remedy this, the nascent concept of institutional amnesia is presented here as a means of theorizing repetitions of public administrative history. A sequential explanatory mixed method research design uses quantitative survey data (n = 1608) and qualitative interview data (n = 75) generated in the public services of Australia, New Zealand, and the UK to show how institutional amnesia can lead to the recycling of ideas and practices, the inefficient relearning of information-seeking processes and the delivery of conducive decision-making environments that can help address historical problems. These findings draw attention to the fact that administrative history does indeed repeat in public agencies because of institutional amnesia, but that it does so in positive as well as negative ways.
中文
制度性失忆与公共行政：历史会重演吗？
摘要
现有研究认为，公共行政机构中缺乏制度记忆会以有问题的方式导致历史重演。然而，这一主张尚未得到能够阐明历史重演过程及其后果的理论或数据的充分支持。为弥补这一不足，本文提出新兴的“制度性失忆”概念，用以对公共行政历史的重演进行理论化。研究采用顺序解释性混合方法设计，使用在澳大利亚、新西兰和英国公共服务部门生成的定量调查数据（n=1608）和定性访谈数据（n=75），展示制度性失忆如何导致观念与实践的循环复用、信息搜寻过程的低效再学习，以及形成有助于应对历史问题的有利决策环境。这些发现提请人们注意：由于制度性失忆，公共机构中的行政历史确实会重演，但其重演既有积极方式，也有消极方式。
关键词
制度性失忆、制度记忆、公共行政、历史重演、混合方法研究、澳大利亚、新西兰、英国