British Crisis Management and the Dynamics of Change: the Case of the Veterinary Disease Policy Sector 2001-2007

My PhD addressed most catastrophic crises to face the UK in modern times – the foot and mouth crisis – and the implications of this crisis for the policy and governance arrangements for managing disease-induced threats and crises in the UK. The research is underpinned by significant research with politicians and bureaucrats and primary documentary analyses. An underpinning theme throughout the book is that the foot and mouth crisis was a ‘critical juncture’ for how disease outbreaks/crises in the agricultural sector have been planned for and managed ever since (e.g. avian influenza and Bovine TB). Coupled with this, the research developed a synthesis of theories of policy and organisational change to study reforms in order to assess the extent of change including the multi-governmental level dynamics in relation to the governance of crisis policy-making (which includes Scottish, UK and EU level dimensions).