Policies as Theories

1275 12 59074 2 165320 document 59074 RR-80-17.pdf application/pdf 1505adaccabb99425b6536aef4bf0df6 MD5 6030838 2016-06-01 11:19:20 https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/1275/1/RR-80-17.pdf 1275 1 1 application/pdf text en public cc_by

RR-80-17.pdf

published 59129 2 165394 document 59129 lightbox.jpg image/png 9fe50a754fa0a0a9575f409a6beb3b45 MD5 9372 2016-06-01 11:29:35 https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/1275/2/lightbox.jpg 1275 2 2 image/png other Thumbnails conversion from text to thumbnail_lightbox en public

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http://eprints.org/relation/isVersionOf https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/document/59074 http://eprints.org/relation/isVolatileVersionOf https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/document/59074 http://eprints.org/relation/isIndexCodesVersionOf https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/document/59074 archive 351 disk0/00/00/12/75 2016-01-15 01:47:23 2021-08-27 17:09:41 2016-01-15 01:47:23 monograph show 2 Majone G. AL0967 Policies as Theories pub iis_sys prog_gen The received view of the scientific method, as represented for instance by logical positivism, has only historical interest for the specialists, but it is still widely, if implicitly, held by decision and policy analysts. On the other hand, recent developments in philosophy and the history of science, which stress the fallibility of theories and the social and historical character of scientific knowledge and criteria, have not yet been assimilated by analysts. This paper argues that these recent methodological developments offer important insights into many theoretical and professional problems facing students of policy-making. Thus, an appreciation of the craft aspects of scientific inquiry not only clarifies the subtle relationship between theory and practice in any type of systematic analysis, but also suggests a conceptual model of the analyst's task that is quite different from the coventional decision-making paradigm. Again, Popperian and post-Popperian views of the evolution of knowledge are shown to be relevant to the evaluation of policies and to the study of their development. Particularly important in this respect is the notion, due to Lakatos, of problems shifts in competing research programs. Even the role of advocacy in policy arguments appears in a new light after we realize the importance of persuasion and propaganda in the history of scientific development. There are reasonably well-defined situations in which the use of persuasion, far from violating the analysts's code of professional behavior, is not only unavoidable but also rationally justifiable. 1980 published RR-80-017. Reprinted from OMEGA: The International Journal of Management Science, 8 [1980]. RP-80-017 Reprinted from OMEGA: The International Journal of Management Science; 8 [1980] 10 2154 public research_reprint OMEGA: The International Journal of Management Science 8 IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria 15 TRUE FALSE info:eu-repo/semantics/book