Samenvatting

Policymakers are increasingly taking notice of behavioural scientific insights to improve their policies. New occupational practices, such as ‘Behavioral Insights Teams’, are emerging within government. This article explores this emergence, based on an ethnographic study on the practices of pioneering behaviour experts in Dutch central government. It argues that the work of these behavior experts is richer and more complex than standard role models, which tend to portray policymakers as direct and standalone choice architects, assume. Three key practices of behavior experts are identified: (1) choice architecture, in various forms; (2) behaviour analysis; and (3) capacity building.