New development: Policy learning and public management—a match made in crisis

Epistemic policy learning is positioned as a key mechanism for informing policy design in crises of ambiguity and technical complexity. However, literature and, in most cases, practice have frequently viewed the expertise underlying epistemic policy learning as dominantly scientific or academic. Drawing on policy learning, policy process and public management theories, the authors argue that the multidimensionality and ambiguity of crisis conditions create multiple policy-making tensions that call for the integration of public management practitioners in a policy co-design capacity. This argument capitalizes on notions of situational synthesis and societal embeddedness, situated knowledge, and legitimacy. The authors further support their claims using empirical evidence on national responses to the Covid-19 crisis. In doing so they contribute to an empirically nuanced theoretical perspective to the interconnectedness of public administration and public policy. This argues for favouring a complementary (as opposed to a dichotomous) model of the politico–administrative relationship.