From Formalization to Pathology Where do formal rules come from? And where does the negative perception of them grow?

This article contributes to the literature on rule growth as it shows that formal rules are perceived to be cascading from the top, even if this is not the case. On the contrary, formal rules more frequently pop up like... [ view full abstract ]

This article contributes to the literature on rule growth as it shows that formal rules are perceived to be cascading from the top, even if this is not the case. On the contrary, formal rules more frequently pop up like mushrooms in the forest bed. This article also contributes to the literature on the perception of rules as it shows that attribution error and negativity bias are linked to the perception of rules. Rules are perceived more negatively at the bottom of the hierarchy, and the analysis of individual rules suggests that compliance burden rather than lack of task significance is the root of the problem. This calls for a further integration between motivational crowding theory and public administration research and for a research agenda where the perceptional side of formal rules is a field of study in its own right. The data consist of document analysis, qualitative interviews as well as three interlinked surveys carried out at different hierarchical levels of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services in Denmark.