Automation in Governance : Theory, Practice and Problems

This book examines the principles and practice of automation in public governance.

Automation is changing the face of government and public law. This collection examines key challenges posed by automation, focusing on theoretical issues, case studies, as well as practices and proposals for reform.

It brings together scholars, public officials and judges from a range of jurisdictions, including the UK, the USA, Australia, Canada, Austria, France and the Netherlands to examine principles that should guide automation in government and what can be learned from the growing policy failures involving automation.

The book contains case studies of significant policy failures involving automation - the Dutch ‘child benefits scandal’, the Horizon accounting software used by the UK Post-Office and Australia’s robodebt social security scandal. These chapters are valuable studies about policy failures involving automation and highlight lessons to be learned.

Making an important contribution to public law, governance and automation, the collection highlights challenges faced by all jurisdictions and draws out lessons from some serious failures of administration involving automation.