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The Philosophy and Possible Inadequacies of Crises Governance: Lessons from a Recent Book

Received: 12 May 2020    Accepted: 3 July 2020    Published: 13 July 2020
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Abstract

This short case is based on the author’s book “Governing Really?” which inserts into policy analysis some new philosophical, methodological and practical insights. Whereas the book includes analyses of quite a few policy areas, this case study delimits its investigation to unexpected events-crises. While purely managerial approaches to problem solving rest on some quantifiable evaluation criteria, a more classical rule of law approach usually focuses on causes and punishment of a crime. Even though in the case of “natural disasters” this is a difficult work, among others because they are quite internationalized, the casualties that hit the population are such that lack of investigation of this sort will prove to be both unfair and dangerous. The paper suggests that preventive work can be done in the area of education and culture, aiming at reintroducing more logical argumentation at the expense of postmodern irrationalism and various techniques inspired by it. If postmodern revisionism has the merit of encouraging more pluralistic approaches to policy making, we must keep alert about its relativism and its tendency to transmit (to the media and the laws among others) insignificant stories, or a fear about description. Therefore, so the argument goes, a policy maker must take into account “great” ideas too, as ideas guide any kind of thought, including materialist mental artifacts. At the end of the day one of selected ideas will fit a case in question. Accordingly, effective tackling of natural disasters may well rest on managerialism, as it has happened in the historical past, but must choose a good governing idea too, avoiding routine automatic, or “silent” solutions.

Published in International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 3, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijls.20200303.14
Page(s) 102-105
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Governing, Unexpected Crises, Managerialism, Legal Approaches, Materialism, Postmodernism, Ideas

References
[1] Kioukias, D. (2019), Governing Really? An Essay on the Philosophy and Some Inadequacies of Public Policy, Lambert Academic Publishing.
[2] Kegley W. C & Wittkpopf, E. R. (1989), World Politics: Trend and Transformation, 3rd edition, New York, St. Martin’s Press, p. 268 ff.
[3] Donelan, M., “States, Food and the World Common Interest” in C. Navari, ed., The Condition of States (1991), Buckingham: Open University Press, p. 216 ff.
[4] Kioukias, D. (2007), An Introduction to the Social States, Comparative Analyses and Practical Philosophy, Athens: I. Sideris, p. 169 (in Greek).
[5] Freeman, R. (2000), The Politics of Health in Europe, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
[6] Beck, U. (1996), The Invention of the Political, Athens: Nea Synora-A. Livani (in Greek).
[7] Radaelli, C. (2007), “Whither Better Regulation for the Lisbon Agenda?”, Journal of European Public Policy, vo. 14, no. 2, pp. 190-207.
[8] Fitzpatrick, M. (2001), The Tyranny of Health: Doctors and the Regulation of Lifestyle, London: Routledge.
[9] For example, in the classical textbook Spero, J. E. (1985), The Politics of International Economic Relations, 3rd edition, London, St. Martin’s Press, ch. 10.
[10] Kioukias, D. (2014), “The Soul and its Vapors “ in Rythms Philosophimata 2011-2014, ebook, Google & Apple (in Greek).
[11] Grammatikakis, G. (2014), Vereniki’s Hair, new revised edition, Herakleio: Panepistemiakes Ekdoseis of Crete (in Greek).
[12] Senior, M. & Viveash, B. (1998), Health and Illness, London, McMillan, p. 326.
[13] Heraclitus (2010), All the Works, transl. by T. Falkos-Arvanitakis, Thessaloniki: Zitros.
[14] Hobsbawm, E. (1994), Age of Extremes, The Short Twentieth Century, London, Michael Joseph, pp. 46-47.
[15] De Gaulle, C. (2020), Memoires de Guerre, transl. by D. P. Kostelenos, Athens, Govostis/To Vima, p. 680 ff.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Dimitris Konstantinos Kioukias. (2020). The Philosophy and Possible Inadequacies of Crises Governance: Lessons from a Recent Book. International Journal of Law and Society, 3(3), 102-105. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20200303.14

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    ACS Style

    Dimitris Konstantinos Kioukias. The Philosophy and Possible Inadequacies of Crises Governance: Lessons from a Recent Book. Int. J. Law Soc. 2020, 3(3), 102-105. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20200303.14

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    AMA Style

    Dimitris Konstantinos Kioukias. The Philosophy and Possible Inadequacies of Crises Governance: Lessons from a Recent Book. Int J Law Soc. 2020;3(3):102-105. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20200303.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijls.20200303.14,
      author = {Dimitris Konstantinos Kioukias},
      title = {The Philosophy and Possible Inadequacies of Crises Governance: Lessons from a Recent Book},
      journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
      volume = {3},
      number = {3},
      pages = {102-105},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20200303.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20200303.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20200303.14},
      abstract = {This short case is based on the author’s book “Governing Really?” which inserts into policy analysis some new philosophical, methodological and practical insights. Whereas the book includes analyses of quite a few policy areas, this case study delimits its investigation to unexpected events-crises. While purely managerial approaches to problem solving rest on some quantifiable evaluation criteria, a more classical rule of law approach usually focuses on causes and punishment of a crime. Even though in the case of “natural disasters” this is a difficult work, among others because they are quite internationalized, the casualties that hit the population are such that lack of investigation of this sort will prove to be both unfair and dangerous. The paper suggests that preventive work can be done in the area of education and culture, aiming at reintroducing more logical argumentation at the expense of postmodern irrationalism and various techniques inspired by it. If postmodern revisionism has the merit of encouraging more pluralistic approaches to policy making, we must keep alert about its relativism and its tendency to transmit (to the media and the laws among others) insignificant stories, or a fear about description. Therefore, so the argument goes, a policy maker must take into account “great” ideas too, as ideas guide any kind of thought, including materialist mental artifacts. At the end of the day one of selected ideas will fit a case in question. Accordingly, effective tackling of natural disasters may well rest on managerialism, as it has happened in the historical past, but must choose a good governing idea too, avoiding routine automatic, or “silent” solutions.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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Author Information
  • Department of Business and Organizations Administration, School of Social Sciences, Hellenic Open University, Patras, Greece

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