Experimenting with ways to change citizen behaviour, second edition

How can governments persuade their citizens to act in socially beneficial ways? This ground-breaking book builds on the idea of 'light touch interventions' or 'nudges' proposed in Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein's highly influential Nudge (2008). While recognising the power of this approach, it argues that an alternative also needs to be considered: a 'think' strategy that calls on citizens to decide their own priorities as part of a process of civic and democratic renewal. As well as setting out these divergent approaches in theory, the book provides evidence from a number of experiments to show how using 'nudge' or 'think' techniques works in practice.

Updated and rewritten, this second edition features a new epilogue that reflects on recent developments in nudge theory and practice, introducing a radical version of nudge, 'nudge plus'. There is also a substantial prologue by Cass Sunstein.

Reviews

'A pathbreaking book that for the first time brings smart policy insights into contact with creative, rigorous testing. This book sets the standard for all future scientific evaluations of "what works".'
Donald P. Green, Burgess Professor of Political Science, Columbia University

'Nudge, nudge, think, think not only informs the reader about how nudge and think strategies can be combined, but also about what the potential benefits and drawbacks of such strategies are for a range of public behaviours.'
Sander van der Linden, LSE British Politics and Policy blog

Foreword by Greg Clark, MP
Prologue by Cass Sunstein
Introduction
1 Nudging and thinking
2 Testing
3 Recycling
4 Volunteering
5 Voting
6 Petitioning
7 Giving
8 Donating
9 Debating
10 Including
11 Linking
12 Summary of key findings
13 Epilogue: the future of nudge and think
Index

Authors

Peter John is Professor of Public Policy at King's College London; Sarah Cotterill is Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Biostatistics at the University of Manchester; Alice Moseley is Lecturer in Politics at the University of Exeter; Liz Richardson is Reader in Politics at the University of Manchester; Graham Smith is Professor of Politics at the University of Westminster; Gerry Stoker is Professor of Governance at the University of Southampton; Corinne Wales is Head Of English at International College, University of Dundee