Rethinking Risk Management in the Federal Government

Abstract

This article examines recent debates about guiding principles and implementation of risk management in the federal government. Considering influences from both political and scientific arenas, the article will highlight how changing perspectives about science, regulatory objectives, and decision models are fostering significant innovations in the conduct of risk management by federal agencies. The first part of the article summarizes several explicit signals of rethinking the federal approach to risk management at the administrative and congressional levels. The second part considers particular intellectual shifts in our understanding of risk management that are fueling contemporary debates on the science, objectives, and process. Specific agency examples are used to illustrate recent suggestions for or experience with implementing innovations for federal risk management. The article concludes with some thoughts about the future of the federal role in risk management and risk policy more generally.