1st Edition
The Politics and Crisis Management of Animal Health Security
The Politics and Crisis Management of Animal Health Security addresses the 2001 foot and mouth epidemic in the United Kingdom - one of, if not the, most significant crises ever to face the UK farming industry. Underpinned by interviews with politicians and bureaucrats and with significant primary documentary analysis the book shows that the crisis was a critical juncture in how disease outbreaks have been planned and managed ever since. The author explores how this event affected policy and governance arrangements for managing subsequent disease-induced threats (such as avian influenza and bovine TB) and concludes by considering the ’temporality’ of lesson learning by the UK government including the current and future challenges associated with managing incongruent risks (e.g., flood protection, swine flu and Ebola). This book provides students of public policy and administration with a significant illustration of how key concepts and analytical lenses from public policy can be applied to the study of the contours of practical policy change.
Biography
Dr John Connolly is a Lecturer in Politics and Public Policy at the University of the West of Scotland. His main research and teaching interests include policy analysis, the politics of crisis management and multi-level governance. Before taking up his post at the University of the West of Scotland he was a policy and evaluation adviser in the Scottish public sector. He continues to undertake consultancy activities in relation to programme evaluation and policy development.
’What happens below the radar once a major crisis has receded? How should we be governed? What lessons should be learned? John Connolly has just written the definitive book, empirically rich and conceptually sophisticated, on what happened to the governance of animal health issues in the aftermath of the UK's foot and mouth crisis.’ Allan McConnell, University of Sydney, Australia ’Connolly’s book shows vividly how the interlinked disciplines of policy studies, political science and crisis management can be used to understand policy and organisational change in response to crisis. Grounded in theory, constructed through painstaking empirical research, and topped off with sound analytical insights into lesson learning, this book provides its own lessons into how to produce excellent research.’ David Judge, University of Strathclyde, UK
