Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning

Item

Title

Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning

Abstract/Description

The search for scientific bases for confronting problems of social policy is bound to fail, becuase of the nature of these problems. They are “wicked” problems, whereas science has developed to deal with “tame” problems. Policy problems cannot be definitively described. Moreover, in a pluralistic society there is nothing like the undisputable public good; there is no objective definition of equity; policies that respond to social problems cannot be meaningfully correct or false; and it makes no sense to talk about “optimal solutions” to social problems unless severe qualifications are imposed first. Even worse, there are no “solutions” in the sense of definitive and objective answers.

Author/creator

Rittel, Horst W. J.

Webber, Melvin M.

Date

1973

In publication

Policy Sciences

Volume

4

Issue

2

Pages

155-169

Resource type

en Background/Context

Medium

en Print

Background/context type

en Conceptual

Keywords

economic policy

general theory

public good

scientific basis

social policy

Open access/free-text available

en No

Peer reviewed

en Yes

Language

en

ISSN

1573-0891

DOI

10.1007/BF01405730

URL

Official Publisher's Webpage (Springer Link)

Citation

Rittel, H. W. J., & Webber, M. M. (1973). Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning. Policy Sciences, 4(2), 155–169. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01405730

Cited in

Conclusion: Building the Field of Improvement Research in Education

Abbreviation

Policy Sci

Item sets

Handbook Conclusion Citations

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