The Role of Behavioural Policy Tools in Crisis Mitigation: Slovakia in the 21st Century

Abstract

Just in the last 15 years Europe has seen 4 major crises all of which have shown us our man\vulnerabilities. Their effects were and are far-reaching, affecting economies, governance and highlighting the blind spots in education and social fractionality. This is especially true for CEE countries, who are among the newest democracies on the European continent. This thesis provides an overview of behavioural policy tools used in Slovakia to mitigate crisis-induced economic and social challenges through closing the education gap and raising trust in institutions. This analysis concludes that behavioural policy tools including default, affect, salience, priming and others have the potential of being effective in influencing people's attitudes, making crisis management and mitigation more successful. Finally, I conclude that behavioural policy tools can be useful in mitigating adverse effects in the context of future crises.