Governments are being tested by profound demographic, environmental and technological changes. These shifts place new demands on public administrations and expose limits in existing ways of working. Evidence from the OECD Trust Survey 2024 points to declining trust in government capacity to deliver on complex policy challenges such as those requiring long-term thinking, fair balancing of intergenerational interests, and evidence-based decision-making. Only 41% of respondents think that governments use the best available evidence, underscoring the need for governments to strengthen how they design, deliver and sustain public policies.
There is a growing sense that governments are “stuck” between meeting these expectations and complying with an accumulation of internal administrative processes. The OECD Public Governance Committee recognises the need to get government “unstuck” by helping public administrations to reform themselves and how they work.
Behavioural science, which applies empirical insights on human behaviour to policy design, can help public administrations overcome persistent constraints and better respond to rising expectations. Since its emergence over a decade ago, its use in government has improved understanding of how citizens think and act in everyday contexts, supporting the design of policies that reflect lived realities rather than theoretical assumptions. However, behavioural science remains under-used in improving the functioning of government itself: Civil servants’ decisions are also shaped by behavioural factors. This has implications for how public administrations implement policy, assess risk, recruit public servants and comply with government directives.
Behavioural public administration (BPA) is a pragmatic approach to these challenges. It seeks to understand and change the behaviour of civil servants, helping to deliver the government’s priorities and better serve citizens. It can benefit all areas of administration, from policymaking to project management, recruitment, integrity, compliance and evidence. However, change relies on applying BPA at all levels of administration, from the individual civil servant to their team, from local administration to centres of government.
This report is intended as a practical resource. It documents how BPA has been applied, what has worked, what has not, and why. By sharing both successes and setbacks, it supports public administrations to make informed decisions about where to invest in BPA capability, as well as to provide civil servants with practices that can be adopted, adapted, and translated to their own contexts.
The report is the culmination of the technical support instrument “Next Generation Behavioural Public Administration in Italy” (TSI 23IT21). It synthesises lessons from a literature review, interviews, workshops, and behavioural pilots to inform and inspire reformers across the European Union and beyond. The OECD is grateful for the partnership of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Structural Reform Support (SG REFORM) and the close collaboration of the Italian Dipartimento della Funzione Pubblica (Department for Public Administration, DFP), as well as the many civil servants and experts who contributed time, data and expert opinion throughout the process.