Learning from control deficits in the childcare benefits scandal: A plea for multi-level analysis in law and policy research

The Dutch childcare benefits scandal has attracted much attention from law and policy scholars in recent years. The scandal stands out not only because of its disastrous outcomes, but also because of a toxic combination of errors on multiple levels of government. In this essay, the authors make a plea for a reappraisal of multi-level analysis in law and policy research. The importance of such an approach is demonstrated through an examination of ‘control deficits’ in the childcare benefits scandal, with attention for the state, organizational and individual levels of government. This yields conclusions about control deficits in the digital welfare state, as well as a number of broader reflections on the value of multi-level analysis in the study and practice of government.