Modernist and Postmodernist Metaphors of the Policy Process: Control and Stability vs. Chaos and Reflexive Understanding
In: Policy sciences: integrating knowledge and practice to advance human dignity ; the journal of the Society of Policy Scientists, Band 25, Heft 4, S. 355-380
ISSN: 0032-2687
It is argued that commonly used metaphors based on the paradigmatic notion of "control" have ceased to be relevant to the analysis of contemporary policy dilemmas. Two new conceptions of the policy process have emerged from the new sciences of complexity. Both chaos theory & models based on the concept of organizational closure clearly reveal the self-organizing logic inherent in the problems confronting managers & policymakers today. Examinined here are the rationales for, & the potentials of, metaphors derived from those paradigmatic innovations -- innovations that can be situated within an emerging postmodern culture insofar as they emphasize indeterminacy & the role played by social actors in constructing social situations. It is also argued, however, that within very specific contexts, the notion of control may still be valid. 116 References. Adapted from the source document.