Incrementalism: Dead yet Flourishing

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bendor, Jonathan
• 署名单位: Stanford University
• 刊物名称: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-3352
• DOI: 10.1111/puar.12333
• 发表日期: 2015
• 页码: 194-205
• 关键词: rationality; MODEL

摘要

Charles Lindblom's 1959 essay The Science of Muddling Through' is best known for the strategy of decision makingdisjointed incrementalismthat it recommended. That famous paper and Lindblom's related work also provided two theories: a critique of the conventional method (the synoptic approach) and an argument for using incrementalism instead. Both are applied theories: they are designed to help solve complex policy problems. Lindblom's negative applied theory has stood the test of time well: the empirical foundations of its main micro-component (cognitive constraints of individuals) and its central macro-component (the impact of preference conflict on policy making) have grown stronger since 1959. The picture regarding the positive applied theory is more mixed. As a coherent decision-making strategy, disjointed incrementalism has almost disappeared. Yet its key elements, the major heuristics identified in Muddling Through, are thriving in many applied fields. Intriguingly, they are often accompanied by subroutinesespecially optimization as a choice ruletypically associated with the synoptic approach.