This study probes deeply into the dynamics of the blame games that seem now to have become an
inevitable part of advanced societies' responses to negative events. Resodihardjo's forensic
analysis of how such negative events get framed investigated and accounted for significantly
advances our understanding of how incidents and crises affect the reputations and political
capital of public authorities and how they can foster but also significantly impede
institutional learning.-Paul 't Hart Utrecht University The NetherlandsThe crisis is often
not even over before the mud starts flying. This little gem of a book outlines causes and
consequences of blame games. The author offers strategies for dealing with these blame games.
An emerging scholar writing a valuable primer on surviving blame games - warmly
recommended!-Arjen Boin Leiden University The NetherlandsThis is an important book. Crises
are followed by questions and the accountability phase inevitablyinvolves the blame game. In
using in-depth case study analysis of tragic incidents at festivals Sandra Resodihardjo
explores why and how blame games start evolve and are then influenced by a variety of factors.
This is a fascinating read when things go badly wrong the cycle of blame is often complex
involving multiple actors and organisations often battling to frame the event to their own
agenda. This should be essential reading not just for scholars studying this critical area of
public policy but practitioners who would undoubtedly learn a lot from the analytical
oversight and forensic detail contained in this excellent book.-Mark Bennister University of
Lincoln United Kingdom During the accountability phase following a crisis the focus is both
on learning (how can we prevent a recurrence of this horrific event?) and on finding culprits
(who caused and or contributed to this crisis?). The latter is also known as the blame game
where actors receive and respond to blame. Too much focus on the blame game however could
lead to an unbalanced accountability phase as people are less inclined to share what they know
about what happened because of fear for instance of resignation. This lack of information
hampers the learning process following crises. Hopefully a better understanding of how blame
games work will lead to a better managed blame game which in turn should result in a more
balanced accountability phase where there is ample of room to learn from the tragic event.This
book furthers our understanding of what happens during blame games following crises by looking
at both theory and practice. Theories on blame games help to answer questions such as who is
blamed and why? How much blame is this person receiving and why? How can this person respond?
And why do these responses sometimes not work?One particular response to blame (appointing an
inquiry) can have quite an impact on the blame game. That is why the second theoretical chapter
addresses questions such as why are inquiries created? How can one influence them? And why are
some inquiries more independent than others?The analysis of three festivals gone wrong helps to
expand our knowledge of blame games even further. The three cases show that responses to blame
can backfire and that rituals context and sub-blame games can have an impact on how blame
games evolve.Taken together the theories and cases explored in this book will help people to
better understand and manage blame games.
