Abstract This article theorizes on how patterns of policy inaction emerge, where policymakers systematically fail to address pressing societal issues or signals about failing policies. Building on Herbert Simon’s core concept of decision premises, we argue how such patterns of inaction result from the systematic biases and blind spots inherent in the organizational design and institutional context of ministerial departments and public agencies. By explicitly specifying the microfoundations underlying policy inaction, we build a theoretical model that provides a mechanistic explanation of how entrenched policy goals and rigid organizational structures can impede policy action. This model is illustrated through two specific cases: the childcare benefits scandal involving the Dutch tax authority and the mining-induced earthquakes in the province of Groningen. A discussion of these cases leads to several theoretical propositions on how patterns of policy inaction are created. We highlight the internalization of formalized policy objectives, the cognitive biases induced by horizontal specialization, the dampening effect of vertical hierarchy, and responsibility avoidance due to rigid role divisions as the primary mechanisms through which decision premises link institutional structures to patterns of policy inaction.
Heijden et al. (Sat,) studied this question.