Anticipatory and reactive forms of blame avoidance: of foxes and lions

Blame avoidance behavior (BAB) encompasses all kinds of integrity-protecting activities by
officeholders in the face of potentially blame-attracting events. Although considered essential
for a realistic understanding of politics and policymaking, a general understanding of this
multi-faceted behavioral phenomenon and its implications has been lacking to date. We
argue that this is due to the lack of careful conceptualization of various forms of BAB.
Crucially, the difference between anticipatory and reactive forms of BAB is largely neglected
in the literature. This paper links anticipatory and reactive forms of BAB as two consecutive
decision situations. It exposes dependence relationships between the situations that trigger
BAB, the rationalities at work, the resources and strategies applied by blame-avoiding
actors, and the various consequences thereof. The paper concludes that anticipatory and
reactive BAB are distinct phenomena that require specific research approaches to assess their
relevance for the workings of polities.