Dealing with Unwritten Rules: Creating Openness in Policy Development

There is a paradox within governments. When a government is faced with complex issues, and open policy development is desirable, it frequently does not fit the unwritten rules. Open Policy Development is, for the sake of this research project and book, renamed as ‘Open MultiStakeholder Policy development’ (OMSPD). Indicating that usual suspects AND unusual suspect have to be part of a policy development process, when it is defined as open. Despite many government studies and experiments, OMSPD has as yet not been generally accepted. This study shows how hard unwritten rules, which are difficult to change, restrict openness. Unlike earlier studies, this study looks above all to what this means for policy-makers in departments. The study shows also what coping strategies are for civil servants who want to apply OMSPD, recognizing and using the hard unwritten rules. It is possible to connect the vertical orientation of the rules to the horizontal characteristics of OMSPD. The study offers civil servant insight into the possible combinations, while offering their managers in the vertical line insight into the way they can manage openness without coming into conflict with the rules.