Risk regulation under pressure: problem solving or blame shifting?

This paper explores a style-phase model of staged organizational responses to external pressure for change against two competing hypotheses, focusing on demands for greater openness and transparency. A study of six risk regulation regimes in the UK revealed that only half were exposed to substantial pressures of this type. Responses of organizations in the ‘high-pressure’ regimes were varied, but the overall pattern was consistent with a mixture of an autopoietic and staged-response hypothesis stressing blame-prevention, and the paper accordingly presents a hybrid ‘Catherine-wheel’ model of the observed pattern. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for policy outcomes.