POAD8014: PUBLIC POLICY
Rationality & Policy Analysis
Lionel Orchard
Simon’s ‘Bounded Rationality’
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Lindblom’s
‘Muddling Through’
Charles Lindblom
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Implications for Policy Analysis
• Policy analysis & decision making is
complex & contextual
• Simon’s defence of ‘satisficing’, ‘good
enough’ analysis
• Lindblom’s incrementalism – ‘agreement’ in
policy analysis as key
• Critiques – status quo, conservative bias
• Mixed models later – eg Etzioni’s ‘mixed
scanning’
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