Mark Fabian
@markfabian.bsky.social
Ass-Prof of Public Policy at Warwick. Work mostly on wellbeing from an interdisciplinary perspective. Interested in *everything*. Run ePODstemology: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1763534/episodes
I'm also seeing this precise cracking to fall through that you're point to in this tweet.
I've got colleagues saying AI incompatible with qualitative research, which is INSANE - its revolutionary!
But then also vaporeware tech bros thinking it can replace politics.
I've got colleagues saying AI incompatible with qualitative research, which is INSANE - its revolutionary!
But then also vaporeware tech bros thinking it can replace politics.
February 6, 2026 at 1:44 PM
I'm also seeing this precise cracking to fall through that you're point to in this tweet.
I've got colleagues saying AI incompatible with qualitative research, which is INSANE - its revolutionary!
But then also vaporeware tech bros thinking it can replace politics.
I've got colleagues saying AI incompatible with qualitative research, which is INSANE - its revolutionary!
But then also vaporeware tech bros thinking it can replace politics.
A huge blind spot for AI enthusiasts who've seen its power from coding is that their job isn't *relational*.
But huge portions of the service economy are mostly relational, especially good management.
Engineering tends to have bad management because engineers are colloquially bad at relations.
But huge portions of the service economy are mostly relational, especially good management.
Engineering tends to have bad management because engineers are colloquially bad at relations.
February 6, 2026 at 1:44 PM
A huge blind spot for AI enthusiasts who've seen its power from coding is that their job isn't *relational*.
But huge portions of the service economy are mostly relational, especially good management.
Engineering tends to have bad management because engineers are colloquially bad at relations.
But huge portions of the service economy are mostly relational, especially good management.
Engineering tends to have bad management because engineers are colloquially bad at relations.
No I haven't but it looks interesting, thanks. I see similarities to the 5 Welsh Ways of Working, which seem to me to have been powerful for structurally changing admin and management there.
February 6, 2026 at 1:37 PM
No I haven't but it looks interesting, thanks. I see similarities to the 5 Welsh Ways of Working, which seem to me to have been powerful for structurally changing admin and management there.
Yes I think this is what Ian Elliot is concerned with in his strategic state.
I encountered his work wrt wellbeing frameworks. He said the Scottish one was originally much more of a values statement meant to coordinate across ministries.
Specific metrics worked against that - silos again.
I encountered his work wrt wellbeing frameworks. He said the Scottish one was originally much more of a values statement meant to coordinate across ministries.
Specific metrics worked against that - silos again.
February 6, 2026 at 9:39 AM
Yes I think this is what Ian Elliot is concerned with in his strategic state.
I encountered his work wrt wellbeing frameworks. He said the Scottish one was originally much more of a values statement meant to coordinate across ministries.
Specific metrics worked against that - silos again.
I encountered his work wrt wellbeing frameworks. He said the Scottish one was originally much more of a values statement meant to coordinate across ministries.
Specific metrics worked against that - silos again.
Yes! Ironically, we put people through a very stringent, multi-year education program at university get them to think linearly/mechanistically. It's powerful!
But our natural capacity to grasp complexity is atrophied by it. We need a more balanced curriculum.
But our natural capacity to grasp complexity is atrophied by it. We need a more balanced curriculum.
February 6, 2026 at 9:35 AM
Yes! Ironically, we put people through a very stringent, multi-year education program at university get them to think linearly/mechanistically. It's powerful!
But our natural capacity to grasp complexity is atrophied by it. We need a more balanced curriculum.
But our natural capacity to grasp complexity is atrophied by it. We need a more balanced curriculum.
This is an aside but as a foreigner (I migrated from Australia in 2020) I am struck by how exceedingly legalistic, regulatory, process-oriented, and bureaucratic the UK is both administratively and culturally.
My colleagues often demand process and cleave to it in a way Australians find baffling.
My colleagues often demand process and cleave to it in a way Australians find baffling.
February 6, 2026 at 9:34 AM
This is an aside but as a foreigner (I migrated from Australia in 2020) I am struck by how exceedingly legalistic, regulatory, process-oriented, and bureaucratic the UK is both administratively and culturally.
My colleagues often demand process and cleave to it in a way Australians find baffling.
My colleagues often demand process and cleave to it in a way Australians find baffling.
Yes I like this observation. I myself am guilty of being a bit hand-wavey about complexity, and most people want a cookbook or guide. I've got such for coproduction. I'll see if I can find something for complexity.
February 6, 2026 at 9:32 AM
Yes I like this observation. I myself am guilty of being a bit hand-wavey about complexity, and most people want a cookbook or guide. I've got such for coproduction. I'll see if I can find something for complexity.
Yes a brilliant quote!
Some of this is just politician brain (people don't seek power only to devolve it!) but I think we also train people for this in PPE. Many technocratic academics going back to Plato have a similar vision of system change - just get a smart person in charge and let them act.
Some of this is just politician brain (people don't seek power only to devolve it!) but I think we also train people for this in PPE. Many technocratic academics going back to Plato have a similar vision of system change - just get a smart person in charge and let them act.
February 5, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Yes a brilliant quote!
Some of this is just politician brain (people don't seek power only to devolve it!) but I think we also train people for this in PPE. Many technocratic academics going back to Plato have a similar vision of system change - just get a smart person in charge and let them act.
Some of this is just politician brain (people don't seek power only to devolve it!) but I think we also train people for this in PPE. Many technocratic academics going back to Plato have a similar vision of system change - just get a smart person in charge and let them act.
The residual belief in leadership that there are levers you can pull. All these new paradigms acknowledge complexity and respond to it with devolution, localism, subsidiarity, and decentralisation. The main barrier to this at the top is a desire to control the media cycle, which is misguided.
February 5, 2026 at 12:40 PM
The residual belief in leadership that there are levers you can pull. All these new paradigms acknowledge complexity and respond to it with devolution, localism, subsidiarity, and decentralisation. The main barrier to this at the top is a desire to control the media cycle, which is misguided.
I think Joe is right in OP that none of these have stuck, but I think that's down to:
1) The revival of NPM under the coalition
2) austerity as both event & ideology
3) the absolute chaos of the post-Cameron administrations
4) that these things haven't been assembled in one place
5) and...
1) The revival of NPM under the coalition
2) austerity as both event & ideology
3) the absolute chaos of the post-Cameron administrations
4) that these things haven't been assembled in one place
5) and...
February 5, 2026 at 12:40 PM
I think Joe is right in OP that none of these have stuck, but I think that's down to:
1) The revival of NPM under the coalition
2) austerity as both event & ideology
3) the absolute chaos of the post-Cameron administrations
4) that these things haven't been assembled in one place
5) and...
1) The revival of NPM under the coalition
2) austerity as both event & ideology
3) the absolute chaos of the post-Cameron administrations
4) that these things haven't been assembled in one place
5) and...
Most these ideas have been around for 20 years but if you privilege economics (my PhD is in econ), which doesn't read anybody else, led from the treasury, and pull 70 year old Blairites out of the wood work, then you won't notice or absorb any of them.
February 5, 2026 at 12:32 PM
Most these ideas have been around for 20 years but if you privilege economics (my PhD is in econ), which doesn't read anybody else, led from the treasury, and pull 70 year old Blairites out of the wood work, then you won't notice or absorb any of them.
Randomised-control trials are great and crucial to NPM's contracting and evaluation logics. But many policy problems don't fit - complex systems, emergent & multidimensional outcomes, small windows of opportunity, qualitative nuances - you need realist evaluation:
www.amazon.co.uk/Evidence-Bas...
www.amazon.co.uk/Evidence-Bas...
Amazon.co.uk
www.amazon.co.uk
February 5, 2026 at 12:32 PM
Randomised-control trials are great and crucial to NPM's contracting and evaluation logics. But many policy problems don't fit - complex systems, emergent & multidimensional outcomes, small windows of opportunity, qualitative nuances - you need realist evaluation:
www.amazon.co.uk/Evidence-Bas...
www.amazon.co.uk/Evidence-Bas...
Using democracy (participatory governance), relationships, and intrinsic motivation to undergird legitimacy and accountability requires a shift from serving customers to serving citizens - New Public Service:
www.jstor.org/stable/977437
www.jstor.org/stable/977437
The New Public Service: Serving Rather Than Steering on JSTOR
Robert B. Denhardt, Janet Vinzant Denhardt, The New Public Service: Serving Rather Than Steering, Public Administration Review, Vol. 60, No. 6 (Nov. - Dec., 2000), pp. 549-559
www.jstor.org
February 5, 2026 at 12:32 PM
Using democracy (participatory governance), relationships, and intrinsic motivation to undergird legitimacy and accountability requires a shift from serving customers to serving citizens - New Public Service:
www.jstor.org/stable/977437
www.jstor.org/stable/977437
The relational state and participatory government require a different kind of bureaucrat. Not the incentive-compatible knaves of NPM but an intrinsically motivated "mission driven bureaucrat". They need different management.
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
global.oup.com
February 5, 2026 at 12:32 PM
The relational state and participatory government require a different kind of bureaucrat. Not the incentive-compatible knaves of NPM but an intrinsically motivated "mission driven bureaucrat". They need different management.
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Participatory governance: most problems have local solutions and relying on cross-contextual metrics, as treasury cost-benefit analysis is won't to do, makes it nigh on impossible to find these tailored answers. Coproduction and similar can be more effective:
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Coproducing Wellbeing Policy: A Theory of Thriving in Financial Hardship - Journal of Happiness Studies
We describe a replicable process for coproducing a theory of ‘thriving’, or more broadly ‘wellbeing’, in partnership with stakeholders to inform an area of policy. Coproduction promotes effectiveness,...
link.springer.com
February 5, 2026 at 12:32 PM
Participatory governance: most problems have local solutions and relying on cross-contextual metrics, as treasury cost-benefit analysis is won't to do, makes it nigh on impossible to find these tailored answers. Coproduction and similar can be more effective:
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Relational State - most broken public services are done "with" people rather than "for" them or "to them" and require a different delivery model as a result:
www.ippr.org/articles/the...
www.ippr.org/articles/the...
The relational state: How recognising the importance of human relationships could revolutionise the role of the state | IPPR
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is an independent charity working towards a fairer, greener, and more prosperous society.
www.ippr.org
February 5, 2026 at 12:32 PM
Relational State - most broken public services are done "with" people rather than "for" them or "to them" and require a different delivery model as a result:
www.ippr.org/articles/the...
www.ippr.org/articles/the...
Strategic State - where missions and complex systems theory fit in, as against the NPM focus on individual contracts and narrow outcome metrics:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
The concept of the strategic state: An assessment after 30 years
The strategic state was conceptualised 30 years ago in response to neoliberal reforms of government and the rise of New Public Management that began in Western democracies in the 1980s. The concept ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
February 5, 2026 at 12:32 PM
Strategic State - where missions and complex systems theory fit in, as against the NPM focus on individual contracts and narrow outcome metrics:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
Strategic state, new public service, relational state, participatory governance, complexity informed realist evaluation - I have a book coming next year putting them all together into a "wellbeing state" paradigm. I can post links for the indivual pieces if you think ppl want to see them?
February 5, 2026 at 12:18 PM
Strategic state, new public service, relational state, participatory governance, complexity informed realist evaluation - I have a book coming next year putting them all together into a "wellbeing state" paradigm. I can post links for the indivual pieces if you think ppl want to see them?
This is going straight into my policy design lecture slides!
February 4, 2026 at 8:52 AM
This is going straight into my policy design lecture slides!
Reposted by Mark Fabian
In the UK it used to be the case that discovering a dead body and reporting it meant you had to pay for the burial unless someone else claimed the body. Great way to ensure disappearances remain unsolved.
February 4, 2026 at 8:35 AM
In the UK it used to be the case that discovering a dead body and reporting it meant you had to pay for the burial unless someone else claimed the body. Great way to ensure disappearances remain unsolved.