Explorations in Planning Theory

Seymour J. Mandelbaum
Luigi Mazza
Robert W. Bruchell

Schools of thought based on scientific knowledge:
systems analysis
systems engineering
policy science
public administration
administrative behavior

authors on the opposite side of the spectrum who look to the transcendance of existing relationships of power within civil society. they hate bureaucracy and alienated power:
utopians
social anarchists
historical materialism
neo marxism

Sociology: the great synthesizers of social knowledge

4 Traditions of Planning Thought
to be grouped in a common tradition, authors must share:
1. they had to speak in th "languages" (such as economics or mathematics) of the tradition.
2. they had to share a certain philosophical outlook
3. they needed to address a small number of central question that defined the particular intellectual tradtion.

Social Reform
this tradition focuses on the role of the state in societal guidance. the vocabulary is derived from macrosociology, institutional economics, and political philosopy. they tend to affirm liberal democracy, human rights and social justice. advocate for a strong role of the state in terms of mediating and authoritative roles.

Keyne's General Theory 1936: scientifically based and legitimate state intervention: the protion of economic growth, the maintenance of full employment, and the redistribution of income.


central questions addressed by planners
1. what is the proper relation of planning to politics?
2. what is the nature of the public interest, and should planners have the power and theobligation to articulate and promote their version of it?
3.in the context of planning, what should be the role of the state in a market economy? ti wgat extent would "social rationality" be served through market interventions by the state? under what conditions would such interventions be considered legitimate?
4. if planning is a "scientific endeavor," what is meant b y science?
5.great debate over the institutionalization of planning.

political analysis
herbert simon: administrative behavior 1945--how big organizations improve their ability to make decisions.

ideal-typical decision model:
1. formulation of goals and objectives
2. identification and design of major alternatives for reaching the goals identified within the given decision-making situation
3. prediction of major sets of consequences that would be expected to follow upon adoption of each alternative
4. evaluation of consequences in relation to what's desired
5. decision based on information provided in the preceding setps
6. implementation of this decision through appropriate institutions
7. feedback of actual program results and their assessment in light of the new decision-situation.
(2,3,and 4 are most specifically focussed on)

central question informing this tradition
1. what are the relative advantages of comprehensive and incremental policy analysis? which model is preferred and under what conditions?
2. different models yield different types of solutions. which solution should you try for and how should decision makers be informed?
3. how might market prices be modified to express social criteria of valuation?
4. what are the most reliable methods for mid and long-range forecasting?
5. how should great unknowns be treated? are there ways of controlling uncertainty?

social learning
the focus of this tradition is on overcoming the contradictions between theory and practice, or knowing and acting.

there exist 2 streams of thought: 1. pragmaticsm 2.unity of revolutionary theory and practice.

central questions:
1. how can the normal processes of social learning, which are found in all cases of successful and extended action, be used to spread social learning techniques to all forms of social undertaking?
2. since human beings are reluctant to alter their habitual ways and are prone to believe that their own opinion or ideology is the only correct one, and since there is an evident connection between ideology and power, how can change be accomplished? how might people be motivated to participate in a form of social learning that depends on openness, dialogue, a willingness to risk social experiments, and a preparedness to let these experiments affect their personal development as human beings?
3. how might formal and informal ways of knowing be linnked to each other in a process of change-oriented action that involves mutual learning between those who possess theoretical knowledge and those whose knowledge is primarily practical, concrete and unarticulated?
4. the social learning paradigm involves, among other things, frequent face to face transaction that require a relationship between participating parties. from under what conditions where specific tasks must be performed, dialogic relations and its commitments to experimentation, tolerance for difference, and openness in communicationppto deomcratic political theory? and what is its relationship to the growth and development of the autonomous, self actualizing personality?

social mobilization
this departs from all other planning tradition by asserting the primacy of direct collective action "from below."

1. what is the proper role of vanguards, community organizers, and the leaders of movements for social mobilization?
2. how can the disinherited and those who have never had effective power suddenly gain fonfidence in their ability to "change the world"? how can the poor empower themselves to gain their freedom from opression?
3. how can the commitment to a new lief in community or a new life in struggle be maintained when only an occasional and partial victory is gained in the seemingly interminable struggle against oppression?
4. What should be the basic components of strategy?
5. what should be the characteristics of the "good society," the social ideal to be realized in practice, now or the future?