Individual autonomy and public deliberation in behavioral public policy
Abstract The most successful concept in behavioral public policy (BPP) is nudging, which involves altering choice architecture to leverage people’s biases and heuristics to promote welfare-improving behaviors. However, in recent years, nudging has faced criticism. This article addresses a specific c...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
2025-03-01
|
| Series: | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04708-z |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850063957985853440 |
|---|---|
| author | Nathanaël Colin-Jaeger Malte Dold |
| author_facet | Nathanaël Colin-Jaeger Malte Dold |
| author_sort | Nathanaël Colin-Jaeger |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The most successful concept in behavioral public policy (BPP) is nudging, which involves altering choice architecture to leverage people’s biases and heuristics to promote welfare-improving behaviors. However, in recent years, nudging has faced criticism. This article addresses a specific critique: while nudges may enhance welfare, they often fail to promote autonomy. Several authors have raised this concern, yet there is no unified definition of autonomy in BPP. This article delves into the various meanings of autonomy in the BPP literature: freedom of choice, agency, and self-constitution. It focuses on autonomy as self-constitution, which acknowledges instrumental rationality but also considers substantive rationality, i.e., people’s ability to reason about their goals, aspirations, and identities. The article explores epistemic, normative, and psychological challenges of autonomy as self-constitution and suggests that public deliberation in mini-publics could mitigate some of these challenges. Moreover, it emphasizes that an autonomy-centric BPP should shift its focus from reframing individual choice situations (i-frame interventions) to enabling public deliberation about institutional choices (s-frame interventions). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e3e5ff29b32f448e8ff912510895dc12 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2662-9992 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-e3e5ff29b32f448e8ff912510895dc122025-08-20T02:49:26ZengSpringer NatureHumanities & Social Sciences Communications2662-99922025-03-0112111010.1057/s41599-025-04708-zIndividual autonomy and public deliberation in behavioral public policyNathanaël Colin-Jaeger0Malte Dold1American University of ParisPomona CollegeAbstract The most successful concept in behavioral public policy (BPP) is nudging, which involves altering choice architecture to leverage people’s biases and heuristics to promote welfare-improving behaviors. However, in recent years, nudging has faced criticism. This article addresses a specific critique: while nudges may enhance welfare, they often fail to promote autonomy. Several authors have raised this concern, yet there is no unified definition of autonomy in BPP. This article delves into the various meanings of autonomy in the BPP literature: freedom of choice, agency, and self-constitution. It focuses on autonomy as self-constitution, which acknowledges instrumental rationality but also considers substantive rationality, i.e., people’s ability to reason about their goals, aspirations, and identities. The article explores epistemic, normative, and psychological challenges of autonomy as self-constitution and suggests that public deliberation in mini-publics could mitigate some of these challenges. Moreover, it emphasizes that an autonomy-centric BPP should shift its focus from reframing individual choice situations (i-frame interventions) to enabling public deliberation about institutional choices (s-frame interventions).https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04708-z |
| spellingShingle | Nathanaël Colin-Jaeger Malte Dold Individual autonomy and public deliberation in behavioral public policy Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| title | Individual autonomy and public deliberation in behavioral public policy |
| title_full | Individual autonomy and public deliberation in behavioral public policy |
| title_fullStr | Individual autonomy and public deliberation in behavioral public policy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Individual autonomy and public deliberation in behavioral public policy |
| title_short | Individual autonomy and public deliberation in behavioral public policy |
| title_sort | individual autonomy and public deliberation in behavioral public policy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04708-z |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nathanaelcolinjaeger individualautonomyandpublicdeliberationinbehavioralpublicpolicy AT maltedold individualautonomyandpublicdeliberationinbehavioralpublicpolicy |