Thermostatic Institutions project
Benjamin William Cashore
Dear Colleagues,
Hope you are all doing well. I am writing you with an out of the blue question about our exploratory project on thermostatic institutions.
As part of these efforts we are starting to develop a data base on thermostatic systems. As it is totally random as to where they show up, we are canvassing an array of communities and knowledge holders about whether they are aware of any thermostatic system in their own research or experiences.
What are Thermostatic Institutions?
· Governance, organizational or policy systems that are capable of maintaining stability of a clearly specified and measurable policy objectives (such as the Paris Accord’s 1.5/2 degree target) . These objectives are so durable that the thermostatic systems are capable of maintaining their objectives even in the case of short term pressures to change them.
· A key feature is the presence of some kind of “trip wire” that triggers changes in policy tools, calibrations and settings, when outside conditions change, that serve to maintain the objectives (Cashore and Howlett 2007).
- Just like a thermostat maintain a house’s internal temperature by turning on or off a furnace or air conditioner in response to changes in outside temperatures
· Classic examples:
o Central banks:
§ Most have a central objective of maintaining a clearly specified inflation target
o COVID interagency committees
- that produced constant changes in policy settings and tools in service of achieving a clearly specified objective: i.e. limiting lives lost
· They have two design tasks
o Maintaining the legitimacy and authority of the system itself
o Maintaining the objectives
· These do not always go hand in hand.
o For example, as I wrote with Kelly, Graeme and Steven, constant rule changes in response to emerging Covid-19 epidemiology can, in cases of limited trust, undermine legitimacy necessary for supporting the rules
· Hybrid cases: trip wires but no clear objectives
o Unemployment insurance
o US debt ceiling
So, if anything comes to mind, please feel free to email me and my RAs Radhika Chandramouli Rao radhi...@u.nus.edu
Happy to chat if you would like further clarification
Thanks!!
Ben
PS we are also having a panel on this topic at ICPP in Toronto end of the month
Ben Cashore
Li Ka Shing Professor in Public Management
Director, the Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES)
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
National University of Singapore
Recent publications
2023 winner, with Sewerin and Howlett, Ken Young Prize for best article in 2021 volume of Policy and Politics for “New pathways to paradigm change in public policy: combining insights from policy design, mix and feedback” Policy and Politics June 23, pp 1-18
2022 Leehi Yona, Benjamin Cashore and Mark A. Bradford. “Factors Influencing the Development and Implementation of Greenhouse Gas Inventories,” Policy Design and Practice
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