Anarchy, state, and utopia

Abstract Information is a source of power in the planning process. This article begins by assessing five perspectives of the planner's use of information: those of the technician, the incremental pragmatist, the liberal advocate, the structuralist, and the “progressive.” Then several types of misinformation (inevitable or unnecessary, ad hoc or systematic) are distinguished in a reformulation of bounded rationality in planning, and practical responses by planning staff are identified. The role and ethics of planners acting as sources of misinformation are considered. In practice planners work in the face of power manifest as the social and political (mis)-man-agement of citizens' knowledge, consent, trust, and attention. Seeking to enable planners to anticipate and counteract sources of misinformation threatening public serving, democratic planning processes, the article clarifies a practical and politically sensitive form of “progressive” planning practice.

Planning in the Face of Power.

The Theory of Communicative Action, Vol. 1, Reason and the Rationalization of Society

This article focuses specifically on how and why managers might go about using stakeholder identification and analysis techniques in order to help their organizations meet their mandates, fulfill their missions and create public value. A range of stakeholder identification and analysis techniques is reviewed. The techniques cover: organizing participation; creating ideas for strategic interventions, including problem formulation and solution search; building a winning coalition around proposal development, review and adoption; and implementing, monitoring and evaluating strategic interventions. The article argues that wise use of stakeholder analyses can help frame issues that are solvable in ways that are technically feasible and politically acceptable and that advance the common good. The article concludes with a number of recommendations for management research, education and practice.

What to do when Stakeholders matter: Stakeholder Identification and Analysis Techniques

Rationality and Power: Democracy in Practice

For planners, institutional transformation is important in two ways. From the positive aspect they need to know their institutional environment: institutionalization theory can help. Three 'schools' of institutionalization theory are presented: 'Historical', 'Rational Choice' and 'Sociological Institutionalism'. The normative aspect of institutional transformation is institutional design: planning often demands this. Institutional design is defined and described: what is it, where is it done, and who does it. The article identifies the institutional-agent interactions that are the media and tools of institutional design, and reviews some of the knowledge base for institutional design practice under the headings of governance, coordination, and agency.

Institutional Transformation and Planning: From Institutionalization Theory to Institutional Design:

The historical association between planning and rationality is unquestioned, but postmodernist critiques have raised doubts about the future of rational planning. This review defines and arrays different types of rationality to reveal that rationality is broader and more diverse than the instrumental rationality which has been associated with planning. An integrative framework associates complementary (contingent) planning paradigms with various forms of rationality, to suggest that the association between planning and rationality continues unabated. Discussion should shift from questioning the link between rationality and planning to asking what kinds of planning and rationality particular cases, situations, or contexts demand.

Rationality Revisited: Planning Paradigms in a Post-Postmodernist Perspective

The evolution of the public interest concept is traced from its classic origins to its practical implications today. Variations include aggregative, unitary, deontic and dialogic approaches, with appli- cations ranging from utilitarian evaluation methods to deliberative and dialogic approaches in political, administrative and judicial arenas. The ontological debate on the public interest concludes that the problem defeating any substantive public interest application is complexity, leaving a dialogic public interest as a default legitimator of public planning. To meet the need for normative application of a substantive public interest concept in planning practice, a threshold criterion is proposed for use in appropriate cases of plan evaluation.

https://www.knesset.gov.il/committees/heb/docs/intenvcom/oppla300611_3.pdf

The Public Interest in Planning: From Legitimation to Substantive Plan Evaluation

Interorganizational coordination (IOC) is a critical part of planning because most planning involves multiple interacting organizations. Theories and concepts of IOC are reviewed, including definitions, theoretical premises, interorganizationalfields, networks and interdependencies, and IOC strategies, antecedents, and consequences. To bridge the gap between current theories and taxonomies in the organization theory literature and the practice of IOC as revealed in case studies, a set of coordination structures is proposed: informal networks, interorganizational groups, coordinators, coordinating units, non-administered programs, lead organizations, and single organizations. These structures are part of an integrated framework that is offered to facilitate analysis and research.

Interorganizational Coordination: Theory and Practice

The design of alternative courses of action is an essential part of decision-making, but one which has been neglected in theory and practice. A pilot study of alternatives' design in organizations suggests that already in the design stage choice focuses on a few alternatives, highlighting the importance of design in affecting the quality of outcomes. Design may be search or creativity, or a blend of both. While search is probably a significant part of design, there may be a residue of basically irrational creativity. These observations suggest that design should be deliberately undertaken in decision- and policy-making, by intensifying search, developing and utilizing design methods, and providing organizational creativity-enhancing environments.

Ernest R. Alexander

Papers

Institutional Transformation and Planning: From Institutionalization Theory to Institutional Design:

Rationality Revisited: Planning Paradigms in a Post-Postmodernist Perspective

The Public Interest in Planning: From Legitimation to Substantive Plan Evaluation

Interorganizational Coordination: Theory and Practice

Design in the decision-making process