POLS 104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Santa Barbara City College, Rationality
Document Summary
The fields of political science, public administration, law, and policy analysis have considered public policy as rational, analytical, and scientific methods. The rationality project misrepresents what politics really is though, thus. A more proper form of political analysis based on political reasoning is needed. Decisions are made by systematic evaluation of alternative options to achieve goals. Goals are undefined and changeable, evaluation is by metaphor and analogy, and the end output is persuasion rather than certainty. The market model of rational, self-interested, utility-maximizing individuals. Collective action: generated by competition to maximize individual material status. Collective action: motivated by loyalty to groups to achieve social change rather than only individual material gain. Policy is created in orderly sequence of stages. Allowing problems and goals to be clearly specified in political debate. Administrators and experts to work out the technical details of implementing solutions. Struggle over ideas, classifications, labels, and boundaries.
